Anybody live near the West Hempstead Fire Department? Is it loud? (Garden City: house, purchasing)

[stimmy2021]

Hi thinking of purchasing a home near the West Hempstead Fire Department. Anyone live near there? Could you tell me if it is loud or noisy? Do the sirens go off often? Thanks in advance

[KEDLI495]

Not sure about the specifics of W.Hempstead- but some fire depts still use air raid/station sirens/horns - some do not
Some may activate for every call or some calls - some may only test a few times a month
But if you are moving near a fire house it will have to be expected that there will be noise from at least the fire truck sirens
The upside is if you ever need them at least they are near

[hotkarl]

Don’t do it.
The fact that you are questioning it at all means it may be a potential problem for you.
You’ll be back on this forum next year to complain about the sirens, the guys washing the trucks outside in the summer, the noise from the installation dinners, the chicken bbq, fundraiser, etc...you’ll vent and then ask advice as to what can be done to shut them down.

[KEDLI495]

As far as the air raid sirens go - some firefighters see it as somewhat a tradition thing and encourage keeping the sirens running
In modern times volunteer firefighters/paramedics have been alerted to calls with pagers or radios - but before that the sirens/horns were used so anyone within the distance of hearing it would know there is a call

So they arent really "needed" - again its more of a historical/tradition thing
But they can be helpful in the sense that to let the community know one of their neighbors may be in trouble or give the heads up there will be emergency vehicles on the road
And also in the event that the pager system should ever go down it could be seen as somewhat of a backup

Getting a bit off topic but Mineola fire dept has an actual air raid/nuke siren from the 1950s
Its probably the loudest siren on the island and can be heard from several towns over on a clear day
They test it maybe a couple times a month on saturdays i think
Just FYI

[twingles]

A lot may depend on whether it’s the main fire house or an offshoot. We lived near a fire station in Garden City but never heard a peep out of it. I would hang out nearby for awhile if you can. I also live near a firehouse here. There’s no siren but if the fire trucks head my way I hear them out on the main road and that could be your bigger issue as someone noted.