Outdoor emergency sirens were temporarily out of service Sunday afternoon in San Francisco as city crews conduct testing to determine the cause of activations that accidentally went off late Saturday and early Sunday morning, according to the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
The sirens were back online Sunday afternoon after the temporary deactivation, the department tweeted at 2:45 p.m.
Alarms went off around 11 p.m. Saturday in the Bernal Heights, Noe Valley and Hunters Point neighborhoods, the Bayview District, City Hall, and other areas, but there is currently no known emergency that would have triggered the alarms, department spokesman Francis Zamora said.
Alarms around the city went off again around 5 a.m., he said.
Officials said several people called 911 to report the sirens, and dispatch centers have been notified about the alarms going off.
In the event of a real emergency during the deactivation period, the city said it will utilize its text and email alert system that people can register for at www.alertsf.org.
The city will also post information on an emergency through its social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter handles @SF_emergency and @SF72org; and www.Nextdoor.com.
Local
A number of people who heard the alarm tweeted at the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management asking what was going on.
"Sirens sounding this am was a tech glitch not a planned test (both SF's safety & rest are important to us!) Repairs in process," @SF_emergency tweeted back.
Due to tonight's earlier tech issues with the Public Warning System, outdoor sirens are currently being tested throughout #SF — San Francisco DEM (@SF_emergency) November 9, 2014
There has been a tech error with the Public Warning Systems in the Bayview - there is no emergency alert at this time. #SF — San Francisco DEM (@SF_emergency) November 9, 2014
@SF_emergency assuming there was another glitch with the siren over noe valley. swell! woke me up at 5am with a nice adrenalin rush. fix it! — Colleen Burke-Hill (@TexnCalGal) November 9, 2014
@TexnCalGal @SF_emergency Sirens woke me up, too. Got an email explanation at 5:55am from AlertSF, but no text. — testpattern (@testpatternorg) November 9, 2014
@jkleinberg sirens sounding this am was a tech glitch not a planned test (both SF's safety & rest are important to us!) Repairs in process. — San Francisco DEM (@SF_emergency) November 9, 2014
