Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
*Skip to 1:59 if you wish to skip over the ambience.*
For SWA 2026, I originally set out to do the 14V in Northfield Village, however some moderate Lake Effect snow and ice last night blanketed the region and temperatures plummeted into the teens. While Northfield had announced they were testing this earlier morning, one hour before the drill, they stated they had canceled the test because of the snow and ice having the potential to damage the siren. With little options to spare and not being able to make it to Garrettsville on time, I opted to head on down to Independence since I knew SWA is one of the few times that the Fire Department is on site to check the system's operation. I picked this 5T on Dalebrook Rd which I have attempted with no success at least 3 times over the last 8 years.
Last fall Independence paid for a radio/control upgrade on their sirens, to move from the old VHF radio system to the new 800 MHz system. Last month, Vasu came out and installed the new controllers and antennas on each of the city's sirens. The new controllers are called PRISM IPX P25 siren controllers, and there are now giant Yagi antennas on each of the sirens as well. The new controllers and radios were retrofitted into the existing FC cabinets.
Once Brecksville's system wound up in alert (a radio upgrade to 800 MHz themselves in late 2024 led to the old attack signal being sunset), I kind of lost hope Independence would do anything, which they didn't for a couple of minutes until the person from the fire department parked on site radioed in. Shortly thereafter (around 9:53) the sirens went off.
I would caution anyone going to Independence for a First Saturday at noon test still, as I am not sure what entity activates these, and they are not monitored by the FD often (per city documents from last year, the city only monitors them once a year in person, usually on SWA). Nevertheless, it was great to finally hear this siren go off after roughly 8 years of trying. Enjoy!
I apologize for the camera going out of focus just before the siren sounds, I was trying to stop the tripod from drifting and didn't see it was out of focus till the last minute or so of the test, since the LCD screen on my camera gets pretty dim. I also apologize for the compression when the trees start moving, that's on YouTube's part and not much I can do about that.
Independence's siren system consists of 8 sirens; 3 of which are from the former Cuyahoga County Civil Defense system following its dismantling in the mid-1970s (a single tone Model 7 and two jailbar Thunderbolt 1000s, which intentionally do not rotate), 4 Model 5Ts which were added sometime in the 1980s to supplement the existing system, and a Model 2 at the Historic Hall downtown, which replaced an older Fedelcode probably sometime in the 1990s.
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Camera(s) Used: Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 (video and audio), Panasonic HC-V380 (B-roll/zoomed out shot)
© Copyright 2016-2026 by SF57. This video and its contents are the property of SF57. No part may be reproduced, in whole or part, without the specific written permission of SF57. Failure to obtain permission will result in a copyright strike.
*Skip to 1:59 if you wish to skip over the ambience.*
For SWA 2026, I originally set out to do the 14V in Northfield Village, however some moderate Lake Effect snow and ice last night blanketed the region and temperatures plummeted into the teens. While Northfield had announced they were testing this earlier morning, one hour before the drill, they stated they had canceled the test because of the snow and ice having the potential to damage the siren. With little options to spare and not being able to make it to Garrettsville on time, I opted to head on down to Independence since I knew SWA is one of the few times that the Fire Department is on site to check the system's operation. I picked this 5T on Dalebrook Rd which I have attempted with no success at least 3 times over the last 8 years.
Last fall Independence paid for a radio/control upgrade on their sirens, to move from the old VHF radio system to the new 800 MHz system. Last month, Vasu came out and installed the new controllers and antennas on each of the city's sirens. The new controllers are called PRISM IPX P25 siren controllers, and there are now giant Yagi antennas on each of the sirens as well. The new controllers and radios were retrofitted into the existing FC cabinets.
Once Brecksville's system wound up in alert (a radio upgrade to 800 MHz themselves in late 2024 led to the old attack signal being sunset), I kind of lost hope Independence would do anything, which they didn't for a couple of minutes until the person from the fire department parked on site radioed in. Shortly thereafter (around 9:53) the sirens went off.
I would caution anyone going to Independence for a First Saturday at noon test still, as I am not sure what entity activates these, and they are not monitored by the FD often (per city documents from last year, the city only monitors them once a year in person, usually on SWA). Nevertheless, it was great to finally hear this siren go off after roughly 8 years of trying. Enjoy!
I apologize for the camera going out of focus just before the siren sounds, I was trying to stop the tripod from drifting and didn't see it was out of focus till the last minute or so of the test, since the LCD screen on my camera gets pretty dim. I also apologize for the compression when the trees start moving, that's on YouTube's part and not much I can do about that.
Independence's siren system consists of 8 sirens; 3 of which are from the former Cuyahoga County Civil Defense system following its dismantling in the mid-1970s (a single tone Model 7 and two jailbar Thunderbolt 1000s, which intentionally do not rotate), 4 Model 5Ts which were added sometime in the 1980s to supplement the existing system, and a Model 2 at the Historic Hall downtown, which replaced an older Fedelcode probably sometime in the 1990s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Camera(s) Used: Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 (video and audio), Panasonic HC-V380 (B-roll/zoomed out shot)
© Copyright 2016-2026 by SF57. This video and its contents are the property of SF57. No part may be reproduced, in whole or part, without the specific written permission of SF57. Failure to obtain permission will result in a copyright strike.
