Mayor Cara Spencer is placing CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell on paid leave after Friday’s tornado sirens failed to sound. An external investigation is now underway. The mayor says a breakdown in communication and confusion over who was supposed to activate the sirens put lives at risk. She’s now shifted full responsibility for siren activation to the Fire Department.
Until repairs are finished, a firefighter will be stationed at CEMA 24/7. The city has also released an audio recording of the failed call to activate the sirens and promises more testing to prevent this from happening again.
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The mayor's office released the following:
A standard operating procedure for activating the siren system, which appears to have been drafted in 2021 by Russell but which may never have been fully implemented, is released in full and states, in part:
“The outdoor warning siren system is to be activated at the primary activation point, the Fire Alarm Office at St. Louis Fire Department Headquarters. If the activation cannot be completed at the primary activation point immediate contact must be made with the Commissioner of CEMA to activate the system from the secondary or tertiary activation points.”
However, the de facto protocol for siren activation was that CEMA would activate the system or, if unable, immediately contact the Fire Department, which would then activate the sirens. Adding to the confusion, the outdoor warning siren fact sheet posted on the CEMA web page states, in part:
“Current policy dictates that the sirens are activated for a:
• National Weather Service issued Tornado Warning
• National Weather Service issued Severe Thunderstorm Warning which has been designated DESTRUCTIVE
• The system may also be activated by direct order of the Commissioner of Emergency Management for any other imminent threat to any portion of the City of St. Louis. Sirens in the City of St. Louis are activated at Fire Department Dispatch Center or the City Emergency Management Agency.”