By Caleb Fort
Albuquerque Tribune
Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Tribune
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Yelp. The Wail. The Hi-Lo. No, they’re not hot new Albuquerque garage bands. They’re the names of siren sounds in Albuquerque police cruisers, fire trucks and ambulances. In jobs with lots of rules - when to use a weapon, when to read Miranda rights, what clothes to wear - emergency personnel have free rein over which sound to use. “It’s really just personal preference,” said Rudy Sandoval, a supervisor at Albuquerque Ambulance Service. “As long as it gets people out of the way, you’re using the right one.”
Sirens are controlled from inside the vehicle with knobs, switches and buttons. Some of them can be activated with the horn on the steering wheel, as long the lights are on.
Albuquerque police Officer Paul Smouse said he usually starts with wail, the standard U.S. police siren, a highpitched, oscillating scream.
If that doesn’t work, he’ll move to hi-lo, the familiar sound of European police cars. With especially uncooperative motorists, he’ll move on to yelp, which sounds like wail but faster. “A lot of guys like to play with the sirens and try everything out,” he said. “I just kind of stick with the same thing.” Albuquerque police Lt. Todd Parkins said he’ll use the wail until he approaches traffic or an intersection. Then he’ll change to yelp to get drivers’ attention. “You can lull people into not hearing it,
or not paying attention,” he said. “It’s good to change it up sometimes.” Siren equipment also comes with an air horn, an abrasive noise used in bursts. Police usually use that when someone refuses to get out of the way, or when the officer needs to clear a busy intersection. Dominic Orozco, a driver for the Albuquerque Fire Department, said he doesn’t have that problem. His truck is equipped with a mechanical siren, along with the standard electronic siren found in other emergency vehicles. The siren looks like a small, silver jet engine mounted on the truck’s bumper. “This is what we use to clear
traffic,” Orozco said, while the siren was going. He said it again after turning off the siren, because he couldn’t shout loud enough to be understood. The siren is loud enough for truck drivers on the highway to pay attention.
It also has a wider range than other sirens, from piercingly shrill to a lower, less migraine-inducing growl.
Orozco uses it only on the way to fires and major emergencies.
“That’s my favorite siren,” Orozco said. “You hear that, and you know it’s the Fire Department.” Most sirens, according to manufacturer Web sites, are at least 100 decibels, or about as loud as a power saw.
Sandoval said novice drivers sometimes go overboard with the sirens.
“The more experience you get, you kind of get tired of hearing them,” he said. “You just use them when you have to. Then you hit them with everything you’ve got.”