The Pāpāmoa Volunteer Fire Brigade has retired its siren, choosing to rely on alternative alert methods to notify firefighters of emergencies.

The brigade, which responds to an average of 210 callouts per year, has turned off the siren as its primary alert system, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said in a statement on Tuesday.

Instead, brigade members will be notified via pagers and Fire and Emergency’s Availability and Messaging System (AMS) app.

The siren had been both a reassuring and disruptive presence for the community, Fire and Emergency Bay of Plenty group manager William Pike said.

“Hearing the siren go off can give comfort to people that the brigade is active and will respond when their community needs them,” he said.

“But we also acknowledge that when it goes off in the middle of the night, or multiple times through the day, it can cause disruption for people.”

Pike reassured the community that alternative alert systems were sufficient to maintain the brigade’s usual response times.

The siren has not been completely decommissioned. It will be tested every Tuesday at 6.55pm with a single blast before the Parton Rd-based brigade’s training session.

This was to ensure it remained operational as a backup in case other alert systems failed, the statement said.

Pāpāmoa Chief Fire Officer Arron King said the brigade remained fully committed to serving the community.

“We want to reassure the community that although they will no longer hear our siren other than once on a Tuesday, the Pāpāmoa brigade will continue to be there to protect and serve,” he said.

King also encouraged new volunteers to join.

“If you are in the area and thinking about giving back to your community, get in touch with us or visit one of our Tuesday training nights from 7pm.”

The change has already taken effect, with the siren inactive except for its weekly test.

Fire and Emergency decided in 2021, following a single complaint, to turn the siren off at night despite an 8000-signature community petition in opposition, NZME reported.