Kingfisher Fire Department and Kingfisher County Emergency Management have spent the past two weekends conducting tests of the storm sirens in Kingfisher and just outside the city limits.

The inspections have been conducted during the weekly tests of the sirens, which occur at noon each Saturday.

“We wanted to physically inspect each of the sirens during those weekly tests, so between the Kingfisher Fire Department and our office, we’ve scheduled to physically be on site over the past couple of weekends during those tests,” said Ryan Deatherage, Kingfisher County Emergency Management director.

The results weren’t promising.

Of the six sirens inside Kingfisher city limits, four were determined to not be working.

Two more outside of city limits - one at Cimarron Electric and the other at P&K Equipment - were also determined to not be working.

Deatherage said a contractor was called in to evaluate the situation and they completed their assessment the afternoon of Monday, April 15.

“One of the broken sirens was able to be repaired, but plans are being made to fix the other non-functioning sirens,” Deatherage said.

Quotes will be prepared by the contractor. Repair costs for those inside city limits will be presented to the Kingfisher City Commission and those outside the city to the county commissioners.

Deatherage said he and new Fire Chief Ryan Gibson worked together to plan for the tests and will continue to do so in the future.

“We want to work together to continue physically inspecting the sirens in the future to ensure we’re not in this situation again,” he said.

Deatherage also encouraged citizens to let his office or the fire department know if they determine a siren isn’t working during the Saturday test periods.

He also said to have multiple ways to be weather aware during storm season.

“It is important to remember that storm sirens are just one source of information and it is recommended to have multiple methods to stay informed about potential severe weather situations,” he said.