Anniston Star
August 8, 2002

False alarm warns St. Clair residents of non-existent chemical weapons accident

By Brandon Tubbs
Star Staff Writer

PELL CITY

A routine power transfer at the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency may have
contributed to the sounding of false alarms Wednesday over sirens intended to notify the public of a chemical weapons accident at the Anniston Army Depot.

Several pieces of equipment, including the siren encoder that sounds the sirens, failed to reboot during a weekly test Wednesday in which power is transferred to a generator at the EMA office in Pell City, said Ellen Haynes, director of St. Clair County's EMA.

At 2:02 p.m. two horns and three announcements - all of them warnings no one hopes to ever hear - sounded over St. Clair County's 41 sirens.

"There has been a chemical accident at the Anniston Army Depot. Go inside. Turn on your radio or television."

"A hazardous material accident has occurred. Stay alert for further instructions."

No further instructions were given because there was no emergency. An "all clear" notice was given at 2:18 p.m. signaling the fact, Haynes said.

EMA officials knew immediately that the alarms were false because they are the ones who are supposed to sound the sirens in an emergency and because they had received no notification from depot officials. But they had to wait for the sirens to finish sounding, Haynes said.

"There was not a chemical accident at the Anniston Army Depot and we hope never," said Joan Gustafson, public affairs officer for the Depot. "That's what our people train for, to make sure it doesn't happen, or to handle it in the unlikely event that it does happen."

Haynes said she hopes the false alarm doesn't deter residents from responding to a real alarm, should one ever occur.

"The risk happens that citizens (in the case of a real emergency) will think it was a malfunction again," Haynes said. "This is something you don't want to ever happen again. People get complacent."

Residents responded Wednesday just as they should, Haynes said.

They followed instructions, remained calm, and sought information regarding the emergency and what to do, Haynes said.

Haynes did advise residents to avoid making telephone calls during any emergency. The
numerous calls to municipalities and emergency personnel jammed the phone systems, Haynes said.

EMA officials notified emergency personnel of the false alarm via radio and used media outlets to notify the public, Haynes said.

The false alarm led the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency to stop testing of the county's sirens, a spokesman said.

"There's been no chemical accident at the depot," said Brian Lazenby, the spokesman, after the alarm. "There's no danger to the county."

Anniston Army Depot notified the personnel of the false alarm through computer communication.

It may be a few days before officials know the exact cause of the malfunction, Haynes said.

"We just want to do everything we can do to ensure this doesn't happen again," Haynes said.