PUBLISHED: Sunday, March 22, 2020

Living in Beacon means you get used to certain sounds. Like you would get used to sounds anywhere you live. In Beacon, that means sounds from the train whooshing by on the tracks, and its long whistle blow. It also means, for some people, the evening patio crowd enjoying themselves to music on the waterfront over in Newburgh, across the Hudson River. Depending on where you live, and on weather, sounds carry, especially from the river.

If you have lived in Beacon for a while, but you commute to New York City or elsewhere, you may not be here during the day. Or, you may be here all day every day, but work from inside your home or your office, and you normally don’t go outside as much as you’ve been going outside lately.

So you may be hearing new sounds. One of those sounds is a long siren that sounds like those long sirens in the movies during war time when something is signaled. If you hear this siren for the first time, and if it is during a moment where, let’s say, there is a lot of news coming out about a lot of different coronavirus-related things at once, for instance:

• California announces for the first time that their residents must shelter in place last Thursday night.

• Italy has its worst day in deaths (there have been new worse days since)

• All non-essential business in New York must temporarily close.

…the siren sound might sound a lot different during that part of the morning when you hear it. It might sound like an actual siren from the movies, announcing that you need to act quickly to do … something.

Good News: It’s An Old-Fashioned Fire Alarm!

Good news: It’s a totally normal siren! It is the fire alarm siren from the Middle Hope Fire Department across the river. Says Beacon’s Fire Chief Gary VanVoorhis: “During a particularly humid day, as we had on Friday, sound travels across the water of the Hudson River more.”

The fire chief says that Beacon does not have an old-fashioned siren like that because the city uses modern technological methods to mobilize their volunteer and professional firefighters. For those who like adding to their Beacon Trivia, there is another siren that is used by a private dam, says Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony Ruggiero.

PS: Auto Accidents “Drastically Down” In Beacon At Moment

By the way, the fire chief added that there has been a drop in auto accidents, since people are staying home. “Auto accidents are drastically down,” he told A Little Beacon Blog last week. Calls for an ambulance are also down. People who are feeling coronavirus symptoms are strongly encouraged to call their health care professional or urgent care first before coming in. This is to protect the workers and other patients in these medical centers.

The City of Beacon has been so responsive to all of our questions here at A Little Beacon Blog as we pursue articles, even while we know that all government officials are in meetings constantly regarding local responses to managing coronavirus. As we work on different articles here, we reach out to verify procedures and ask how things work. We appreciate their responses so much. Very comforting.