Obnoxious Fire Sirens No More; River Edge Lowers Decibel Levels

Rather than constantly covering their ears when the fire sirens in River Edge go off, residents will now begin feeling a sense of relief after the decibel levels for all three sirens were reduced.

"Each of the sirens at , the corner of Kensington and the corner of Bloomfield were reprogammed," Fire Chief John Mauthe said as he updated the borough council on Tuesday. "The decibels were lowered from 113 down to 106 and the span was reduced to 40 seconds. But the most influential thing is that previously the sirens would reach a peak and hold for four seconds and now they will instead hit the 106 peak and then go back down."

Since April, residents particularly in the area of Kensington and Elm Avenues had called for the Council to either shut the sirens off or find a solution. Initially the Council agreed to turn off the siren at Kensington in But a month later a was reached to lower the decibel levels and eventually move a siren from the corner of Elizabeth and Main Streets to .

"We've only had one opportunity to be alerted by the siren so far so we're still collecting feedback from the firemen and residents," Mauthe said. "We also additionally shortened the cycle for the Saturday siren test from 10 to 8 seconds."

According to Assistant Chief Gregg Cariddi the department has received a verbal estimate of $2,500 to place a cover on the siren at Main Street but is currently waiting on a written estimate. Once a written estimate is received, the Fire Department and Council will discuss purchasing a siren cover.