By BRIAN FERRY bferry@timesobserver.com It’s a drill. It’s only a drill. At 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, all of the weather emergency sirens in Warren County will go off... hopefully. The county is testing its emergency preparedness along with the annual Pennsylvania weather exercise. The sirens at fire departments all over the county will all be tripped for the exercise. The test includes the weather siren in downtown Warren — the city’s fire department does not have a building siren. See SIRENS / A-3 SIRENS According to Warren County Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison, the sound will be different from the stations’ typical alarms. “We took their sirens and adapted them,” McCorrison said. “It’ll be a different sound. It’ll go up and stay up.” Designated listeners will report to the county on each siren’s performance. “These things get used so rarely, we try to test them with the state exercise,” McCorrison said. “Any that need repair... we’ll fix it and test it again.” Warren State Hospital, the Warren County School District and, for the first time, the Warren County Courthouse are participating in the weather exercise, and McCorrison said it’s a good opportunity to work on household readiness. “It’s the right time of year for families to talk about what to do, where is a safe place in the home, do we have flashlights and spare batteries...” he said. Anyone with questions about readiness — in general or specific to weather — is encouraged to visit ready.pa.gov, McCorrison said.

It’s a drill. It’s only a drill.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 20, all of the weather emergency sirens in Warren County will go off… hopefully.

The county is testing its emergency preparedness along with the annual Pennsylvania weather exercise.

The sirens at fire departments all over the county will all be tripped for the exercise. The test includes the weather siren in downtown Warren — the city’s fire department does not have a building siren.

According to Warren County Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison, the sound will be different from the stations’ typical alarms. “We took their sirens and adapted them,” McCorrison said. “It’ll be a different sound. It’ll go up and stay up.”

Designated listeners will report to the county on each siren’s performance.

“These things get used so rarely, we try to test them with the state exercise,” McCorrison said. “Any that need repair… we’ll fix it and test it again.”

Warren State Hospital, the Warren County School District and, for the first time, the Warren County Courthouse are participating in the weather exercise, and McCorrison said it’s a good opportunity to work on household readiness.

“It’s the right time of year for families to talk about what to do, where is a safe place in the home, do we have flashlights and spare batteries…” he said.

Anyone with questions about readiness — in general or specific to weather — is encouraged to visit ready.pa.gov, McCorrison said.