Katikati's fire siren, currently located on the local fire brigade's Main Street building, is out of action – causing local firefighters to trust unreliable pagers to respond to callouts.

Katikati Fire Brigade deputy chief fire officer Gavin Amrein says his town's silent fire siren is causing issues in responding to callouts.

Plus, without the siren, the town has no warning system for a tsunami.

Katikati Fire Brigade deputy chief fire officer Gavin Amrein says the siren recently had a bird's nest pulled from it by crane – but the birds have returned, causing the siren to fall silent again.

'We've also received concerns from residents near the new station site about the siren's noise – and until these concerns are resolved the siren will not be re-instated.”

Gavin's says this time the siren has been silent 'for a couple of weeks” which has caused a few problems for the brigade with their pagers not always working – to alert firefighters to a fire – both in certain parts of the township and surrounding areas.

'Most of the firemen rely on the siren to alert them to callouts because our pagers are not reliable.”

Katikati Fire Brigade's fire siren – currently at the Main St station – is silently causing problems.

Wednesday morning's callout to a fire at Katikati Caltex at about 1.51am – the town's most concerning callout since 2008's blaze in the Satara kiwifruit packhouse – saw Katikati's brigade initially short of firefighters due to the siren not going to alert them, says Gavin.

'About one-quarter of the brigade's pagers do not go off – and yes, this is a concern and it shows we do need the siren to alert our firefighters,” says Gavin, who ensured Wednesday's fire did not reach the station's fuel tanks and LPG supply.

Gavin says, about two weeks ago, plans were afoot to move the siren to the new station site – on the corner of Wedgewood St and Middlebrook Drive – but the brigade first has to resolve concerns held by nearby residents.

'While they're concerns may be valid, we really need people to think about the safety of the community [in having the fire siren at the new station],” says Gavin.

'We will not be putting up the siren at the new site until concerns of nearby residents are resolved – but until then, Katikati has no tsunami warning alarm and we'll have to rely on our pagers.”

Gavin says the unreliability of the pagers is evident both in Katikati township and beyond.

'One firefighter is in town right next to the new station – and out of the last 10 callouts, he has missed four due to his pager being unreliable.”

Gavin says removing the first bird nest from the siren cost the brigade $1000 – an act he's not willing to repeat until the siren moves to its new site.