LoHud.com
MONSEY, N.Y. — The fire district’s Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday night to silence the Grove Street fire horn, fire department and Ramapo officials said.
The whistle was immediately turned off after the meeting, firefighters said, and they are now relying on just their pagers to alert them to a call for help.
“It’s a necessity,” Fire Chief Richard LaGarde said Thursday. “All throughout Rockland County, not just Monsey. Firefighters need to be alerted in any way they can. The whistle is a viable way of doing that.” LaGarde said the pagers firefighters wear often work like cell phones — with poor reception in certain areas along with complete dead zones where no signal reaches. Even the firehouse on Grove Street has poor reception, LaGarde said, and a firefighter could be inside and be unaware of a call without the whistle sounding.
Full story: Monsey fire signal silenced again (video)