Town of Paradise will receive home early warning devices to better respond to emergencies

PARADISE, CA – Ridge residents will soon be able to install early warning sirens in their homes

For over a year, the city of Paradise has built 21 early warning siren towers to alert residents of an emergency or evacuation situation.

Based on community feedback, city officials found that some residents were having difficulty hearing the monthly siren tests, which led them, in partnership with FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services, to create at-home devices with siren towers.

The models will be standard or include a visual element for residents with hearing impairments.

City officials say this is an additional step toward keeping the community safe in the event of an emergency.

“Towers are just one element, we have Code Red, that’s another element, we have social media. All of these different things are tools in our toolbox for emergencies and emergencies of different scales, and this gives us one more tool and gives residents one more tool to make sure they’re aware of what’s going on in community and all around,” said Brian Solecki, Economic Recovery and Development Project Manager for Paradise.

The city received a $3 million grant after the 2018 Camp Fire, with 75% from FEMA and 25% from Community Development Grant disaster relief funds.

Initially, Paradise received approval to purchase 900 standard and 100 visual plug-in devices. The devices will also be battery-powered, which residents can take with them in the event of an evacuation.

Officials will conduct a social campaign to learn about the demand of residents who would like to have one of the devices in their homes.

The towers will be equipped with strengthening equipment over the next two months, and the city hopes to begin distributing the equipment in early fall.