Emergency Weather and Fire Sirens

City of Richmond - Siren Information

Siren Location and Purpose:

There are a total of four sirens in the City of Richmond.  They are located at:

  1. Water Tower – Severe Weather Siren
  2. Lake Angela near Division – Severe Weather Siren
  3. Fire Hall on Main Street – Fire Siren & Severe Weather Siren
  4. Oak Street south of Main Street – Fire Siren & Severe Weather Siren

The sirens located at the Water Tower and Lake Angela are only utilized to notify the public of severe weather events.

Only the two sirens at the Fire Hall and Oak Street are utilized for both severe weather and for emergency fire runs of the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department.  These two sirens are also used for the noon whistle Monday – Saturday.  

To view the map of the Siren locations, please click here

Siren Activation during Severe Weather - 

A long steady wail (a continuous high-pitched siren) for three minutes

As a reminder the Severe Weather Sirens will be set off by Macomb County for the following reasons:

  • Tornado warning as issued by the National Weather Service for our area
  • Severe thunderstorm warning accompanied by winds 70 mph or greater as issued by the National Weather Service for our area
  • Tornado and/or funnel cloud sightings that have been verified by a reputable source

For more information on severe weather, you can also visit their website at: https://www.macombgov.org/PublicEducation 

Macomb County Emergency Management activates the severe weather sirens throughout Macomb County the first Saturday of each month at 1:00 pm as a test of the system.  

Siren Activation for the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department - 

An up and down wail/siren that varies louder and softer as it sounds.

There are several reasons for sounding the two fire sirens when the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department has emergency calls.

  • The RVFD is completely volunteer and the Fire Hall is not maned.  When we receive a fire call the Volunteers respond to the hall in their personal vehicles (equipped with lights and sirens) and then to the call in the fire apparatus.  The sirens are activated from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm to let pedestrians and drivers know to watch out for emergency vehicles as volunteers respond.  
  • This is particularly important in our downtown commercial areas where both pedestrian and vehicle traffic are greater.
  • Although volunteers receive paging and radio messages for each call, the siren is a backup for members that may not have 

Severe Weather Shelters

Whenever enough advanced notice is provided on a severe weather event, the Richmond Police Department and Volunteer Fire Departments will activate emergency weather shelters.  

There are two (2) shelters that will be open if necessary. Trinity Lutheran Church on Division (next to the Library) and First United Methodist Church (next to the Fire Department).