The first-ever emergency siren test in Paradise went off without a hitch Thursday — but also without a sound in some parts of the Ridge.
The town’s new early warning siren system is designed as a redundant means of communication to help people evacuate from a wildfire or other emergency before it’s too late. This first test comes nearly five years after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people, and in which many residents say they did not get adequate warning.
A Los Angeles Times investigation found that emergency evacuation messages failed to reach as many as 60% of the residents that they should have during the fire. Sirens were billed by the town as another way to alert residents in the event of a future emergency.
A year after the fire, in 2019, the town created a long-term Camp Fire recovery plan and included an early warning system as a priority. But, town officials say, applying for funding and approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delayed the project for years.
Funding for the construction of the siren system was finally awarded nearly three and a half years later in April of 2022.
Colette Curtis is Paradise’s Recovery and Economic Development Director.
“We worked as fast as we could, but we had to wait,” Curtis said.
Now, Paradise and Upper Ridge residents will begin the long road to regular and effective siren testing. This first siren test provided the first snapshot of how the sirens could work in the future.
Many ponder whether Thursday’s test provided enough clarity about the town’s preparedness in the event of a future emergency.
Thursday’s test began at 10 a.m. NSPR sent reporters to different locations throughout Paradise and Magalia to gauge who heard the siren test and who didn’t.
Paradise Community Park
The town of Paradise held a pop-up event at Paradise Community Park as part of the launch of the new sirens. The event provided maps, evacuation routes and other information, and had officials there to answer questions about the sirens. Organizations like the Camp Fire Collaborative and Butte County Fire Safe Council were also there to speak with residents.
Town officials also told residents who might be upset by the test to find emotional support at the event.
As the sirens sounded, the crowd began to chatter about the low volume of the siren. Attendee Alice Chambers shared the sentiment.
“I'm a little concerned, I'm not sure if it was loud enough,” Chambers said. “I also am concerned about disabled individuals and seniors if they would be able to hear the siren.”
Chambers was in Paradise during the Camp Fire and still remembers the difficulty in communication that day.
“I also am concerned about disabled individuals and seniors if they would be able to hear the siren.”— Alice Chambers, attendee at Thursday’s pop-up event at Paradise Community Park
“I was told … everything was normal from various people,” Chambers said. “When I had ashes and embers and trees falling on my vehicle and I lost cell phone service, I started making my way back down to Chico.”
Asked afterward how he felt about the test, Joe Cardoza, a volunteer with the Butte County Fire Safe Council, said he was satisfied.
“I think it’s great. It’s like the coastal communities that have a tsunami warning or the midwestern states when they have tornado warnings,” Cardoza said. “We have to make everyone aware of its meaning, and it shouldn’t — hopefully — doesn’t have too many meanings to confuse people.”
After the sirens sounded, some people left while others remained to chat. Though the anticipation may have exceeded reality, in this part of town, the siren was heard.
Skyway and Wagstaff traffic detours
It was business as usual at the Sinclair, a gas station on the corner of Skyway and Wagstaff roads in Paradise, as several groups of volunteer police officers stood at each corner of the intersection.
They would be diverting traffic once the sirens went off. As part of the day’s exercise, emergency responders would practice diverting traffic at the location once the sirens went off.
Wayne Ward, one of the volunteer police officers helping with the test, said that the diversion was to simulate a fire evacuation from further down Skyway Road.
Citizens stopped at the gas station to fuel up, seemingly weary of the test to come, but mostly continuing their day as normal. When the test came, there was a wave of anticipation, a hum of anxiety, then nothing.
Activity had slowed to a stop. People looked around and paused, as if waiting for something to happen. Not out of fear, but in a cautious curiosity.
Town officials said the test would consist of an audio message assuring citizens that this was only a test of the emergency system, 30 seconds of siren, and then the same audio message.
A second passed. Two. Then finally, a quiet sound. The siren.
The test was over quickly, no trace of the expected voice warning citizens of the test drill even though it was broadcast, just a quiet ringing under the noise of machinery from nearby construction and the loud rumble of cars rolling through the intersection.
There was a strange sense of disappointment, all the anticipation lifted all at once. Was that it?
Volunteers called to each other across the busy roadway, saying the siren was too quiet to hear. A man who had been sitting in his truck went inside the gas station after a heavy pause following the first siren. Citizens seemed to resume their day.
Suddenly, two more sirens went off, each quiet and unexpected. Before the third one, the owner of the gas station walked out the open doorway asking if anyone had heard the sirens, because he hadn’t.
He was cut off by the third and final test siren, which quietly chimed in the background like a forgotten phone alarm. The gas station owner went back inside the building to resume business.
The traffic diversion was efficient, and began immediately after the first siren stopped. Cars were detoured down Wagstaff Road once a volunteer had stopped them, had them wait a moment, and then sent them on their way.
The residents of Paradise seemed unphased by the detour and didn’t ask many questions, being already used to the near constant stop and start of construction in the town as rebuilding efforts began after the Camp Fire.
Trent Beardsley, a firefighter stationed in a truck at the end of Wagstaff Road, said that the unexpected additional sirens were rung because the town needed to test how loud they needed to be for residents to hear them clearly.
Magalia
Paradise officials told communities in the Upper Ridge that the siren could travel to Magalia, Butte Creek Canyon, and parts of Chico.
But for the customers and wait staff at the only open breakfast cafe in Magalia, there were no sirens.
David Reyes is a waiter at Hilltop Cafe and a former Magalia resident. He also survived the Camp Fire.
Reyes said he worries Paradise hasn’t spent enough resources giving Magalians early warning for the next big fire.
“They should do something better,” Reyes said. “Over here, they need something to prepare.”
At the Taqueria Doña Tere, a nearby taco truck, Ian Edwards, a propane delivery driver, waited for his lunch. Edwards said he didn’t hear anything while driving around Magalia.
Many Magalia residents say back in 2018 they did not receive advance warning to evacuate as the Camp Fire traveled up the ridge.
Officials say they’ll work to improve the new siren system based on feedback from Thursday’s test.
Nearby in the Magalia Community Park, Upper Ridge community members had set up a support group in case people needed it.
When the time came and went, the group, including Linda Horton-Lyons, was relieved, but confused.
“We didn't get triggered up here by not hearing it,” Horton-Lyons said.
But, Horton-Lyons does hope that the sirens eventually reach all of Magalia.
Members of the group looked for information about the siren’s reach, even calling the town of Paradise directly.
“I think my initial reaction was, I didn’t think we’d hear it. Of course, we don’t hear it.”— Melissa Quinn, Camp Fire survivor and Magalia resident
Melissa Quinn is a Camp Fire survivor who was listening from her home in Magalia when the siren test began. She said she didn’t hear anything either.
She said it brought back the same anxiety she felt during the Camp Fire, when her neighbors helplessly looked to each other for evacuation and fire information.
“Nobody's getting cell phone messages or no, you're getting nothing. So in that aspect, it was frustrating, and terrifying,” Quinn said.
Quinn’s lived in Magalia since 2015. She said she wasn’t surprised by Thursday’s silence in Magalia.
“I think my initial reaction was, I didn't think we'd hear it. Of course, we don't hear it,” Quinn said.
Quinn said Upper Ridge communities have consistently felt overlooked by the town during the Camp Fire recovery process. She worries the siren system will do the same thing and leave Magalia out of critical services.
Quinn said she hopes Magalia receives more help with early warning systems and evacuation routes in advance of a future disaster.
Residents in Butte Creek Canyon as well as Magalia told NSPR they didn’t hear the sirens, either, even after going outside their homes.
Additionally, many people inside buildings told NSPR they didn’t hear the siren test.
NSPR surveyed employees at nine businesses on Skyway in Paradise. Only employees at two of the businesses said the test was audible. One of these businesses was directly across the street from a siren, the other a block away.
The seven businesses where employees told NSPR the test was inaudible were located between a half mile and a mile and a half away from any of the sirens that were tested.
What to expect in the future
Six sirens were tested Thursday — five permanent siren towers and one temporary one. Twenty-one sirens are planned in the entire system.
Paradise officials say the rest will be finished and come online at the end of the summer.
The next test of the siren system is scheduled for July 1. The system will be tested at noon on the first Saturday of every month for at least six months. Town officials say after six months they will reassess the frequency of tests going forward.
The town of Paradise is encouraging residents to fill out an official survey to better understand the audibility of the town’s new siren system.
We’d also love to hear from you! Share your experience with NSPR. Email nsprnews@cuschico.edu or call (530)-487-4342 and leave a voice message.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the second test of Paradise’s new early warning siren system would take place on July 8, rather than July 1.
