The Civil Defense Siren System, first introduced during World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor, did not gain much popularity until the Cold War. The number of siren systems in most cities spread rapidly during†that time; nearly every city had a system to warn citizens of a nuclear attack, according to the Wende Museum of the Cold War website.Cities regularly threatened with natural disasters (tornados, floods, etc.) still use outdoor siren systems; however, most of the sirens intended for attack-warnings only have been taken down or are rusting away at the top of their poles, according to the Civil Defense Museum website.The siren sitting on the green pole by the Rockiní B Feed & Supply store in Black Forest is one of those siren systems.Dr. Nick Studer, director of the National Museum of Civil Defense, said the siren is abandoned and without power. It is a Model 7 siren, produced by Federal Signal Systems, which is a common siren, he said. ìWhat is unique is the pole,î Studer said. The siren is mounted on a scream master pole, specifically built for a scream master siren. ìThose kinds of poles are quite common in California where they were made, but not so much in Colorado,î he said.ìRumor has it from the people in the siren industry that the scream master pole was tested at the Nevada Proving Grounds and is capable of taking weapons effects (like a nuclear blast, bullets or artillery).î He said he hasnít found actual documented proof of the information.The National Museum of Civil Defenseís interest in the siren system is for historical purposes. He said theyíre concerned, since it is an abandoned siren system, that it will be bulldozed to make way for a wider road. They have reached out to Pikes Peak Regional Emergency Management; so far, he doesnít know what their plans are for it. The NMCD would like to preserve the pole in particular and the siren, too.There are no records on the owner of the siren system. ìItís just hard to find any records because they are so old, and chances are unless someone had a specific interest in preserving them, they were probably thrown out,î Studer said.He said the sirens were put in place in the late 1950s, early 1960s by the El Paso County Civil Defense, the predecessors of Pikes Peak Regional Emergency Management. Studer said at that time, the Colorado Springs Radio Communications department would have been responsible to repair and maintain them.ìEmergency preparedness is a timeless thing; civil defense at that time was a calculated and planned effort in response to a significant threat the country faced, and the folks who worked on it really put a lot of effort into it,î Studer said. ìAt the museum what we try to emphasize is Ö nuclear weapons existed and people at the local, city and state levels were entrusted with keeping the citizens safe and do what they could to plan for an emergency.îBob Sayers, retired communications engineer, maintained the sirens in the early 1970s. He worked for Colorado Springs Radio Communications, which contracted with the El Paso County Civil Defense. He said there were 33 sirens altogether in the county, and remembered that the pole in Black Forest had initially been wood and not metal.He said the sirens were tested the first Friday of every month. ìThe week before each test, we radio repair guys would go around to each siren to make sure they were functional,î Sayers said. ìThe test would infuriate the neighbors; they all hated the sound test, as it was quite loud. The neighbors came over several times and threatened to put a bullet in the siren if we set it off again. They were never used for a nuclear warning, thank heaven.îSayers said when people heard the sirens go off, they were instructed to turn to either 640 or 1240 kHz to receive instructions. He said old radios used to have little arrows pointing to those frequencies. ìIt was a federal law then that radios manufactured between 1953 and 1963 have these two frequencies marked by the triangle-in-circle (“CD Mark”) symbol of†Civil Defense,î he said. ìIt was all geared toward survival during the Cold War.îDr. Frank Blazich is the lead curator of military history at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He said he is a military historian by training; at the Smithsonian, he reviews the military history of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Coast Guard, from the 1900s to the 2000s.He is also an advisor on the NMCD board. Blazich said (in reference to Sayers comment that the pole used to be wood) it makes sense to have a pole that is going to survive a forest fire. ìThatís a prudent measure, changing the pole from wood to metal, which is a lot more durable,î he said. ìThe fact that the county spent the amount of money that they did on this pole is just another piece to the puzzle that they were legitimately concerned they might take a direct hit and be a military target.îHe said the American civil defense effort is in some circles viewed as a failed effort. ìThe artifacts and records of those few men and women who dedicated their careers to the safety of others provide the understanding and perspective for contemporary emergency management officials to prepare for and respond to crisis big and small, be it a wide scale natural disaster†or man-made crisis.î
