City tornado siren malfunctions early

One of the city’s three tornado sirens is down following a malfunction early Sunday morning, fire officials said.

Deputy Fire Chief Deric Horne said emergency personnel disconnected the malfunctioning tornado warning siren downtown from the power source at 7:30 a.m. Horne said he received the first call about the siren at 5:45 a.m.

“There was a malfunction in the siren and we are working on getting it fixed and replaced,” Horne said.

There are four tornado sirens in Philadelphia. Three are maintained by the Philadelphia Fire Department and the fourth is by Weyerhaeuser, Horne said.

Although the siren is down, Horne said citizens should be able to hear the other sirens in the event of a tornado.

“This is not the first time we have had a siren down,” Horne said. “You are dealing with electronics so things happen. We are working to get it replaced as soon as possible.”

Horne said Tuesday he did not have a timeframe for replacing the siren.