GIRARD, Kan. — On Monday, Girard Fire Chief Jeff Turner talked to the City Council about the city’s storm siren activation procedures, following online criticism after a storm that occurred on April 26.

“These last few weeks, there have been some questions and answers about the activation at the city of Girard on policies and procedures when we activate our storm sirens,” said Turner.

Turner presented the council with a copy of the city’s policy regarding storm sirens along with the county’s policy on the same topic.

Turner said he monitored the storm as it approached. Its behavior was erratic, he said.

“That storm ... was headed towards Girard, where it was pinpointed. But as you all know, if (you) were watching that storm system, it dissipated, it lost its updraft, and just dissipated, which means it died down but then it picked back up and shifted from northeast to southeast.

“Well, as it came across into Crawford County, that’s when, I believe, ... a tornado warning was issued for our county. Per Girard’s policy, and our procedures ... any time there is a tornado warning within our county, we activate our storm sirens. (The) reason why is we (want to) give people plenty of notice for them to gather their families, whatever, and head to that storm shelter, if need be, to seek shelter.”

Turner said the storm went “way south” of Girard, which caused some residents to question the decision to activate the sirens.

"There were people upset that we set them off because the storm was not near us,” Turner said.

Despite the criticism, Turner defended the decision, saying he prefers to err on the side of the safety of the people and noting that the city policy “coincides with the county.”

Councilman John Leigh noted that he “didn’t mind” the storm sirens being activated while the storm was south, packing things together in the case of an emergency.

“But then my wife was scared to death and she was like ‘Put everything in the lockbox’ and at least she had time to feel better that she got everything gathered up and then if it did get bad, then she still is able to head to the cellar with all our stuff,” he said. “... It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Crawford County Chief Dispatcher Jessica Markley also defended the activation of the sirens.

“I am no Doug Heady, right? But what I can tell you is my entire existence is making sure my guys with boots on the ground are safe,” she said. “But first and foremost, my responsibility is to the public, and I want you all to remember that. When we make a decision to set off the storm sirens, it is never done lightly. I teach security awareness for Crawford County as well as for all our affiliates like Girard, EMS, all of our fire districts, and we talk a little bit about social media and I kind of want to bring this up today.

“You’re going to see a lot of backlash, that’s natural. When you step into any kind of political situation, and you’re coming from a community where you are tightknit, we care about each other. But what you have to remember is a lot of those negative comments are coming from not just people being negative but it’s a lack of education ... This is not done to upset anyone. Our first and foremost responsibility is to protect the people of not only Girard, but of Crawford County.

“So when I make the decision, I tell my girls go ahead and light the sirens up. I was the one to pull up that screen, and I pushed all of those buttons. I’m going to tell you the one in Chicopee didn’t go off and it threw tones at me that I’d never heard before. Well, I immediately go up on the radio and one of my fire chiefs ran to that city, put himself, his family, in danger to go makesure those sirens were going off. So our people with those boots on the ground are risking their lives for your families because we care ... What is the best decision for all of those people and the best decision, every time, is going to be to err on the side of caution.”

The next Girard City Council meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, at the Girard City Hall on the southeast side of the building, located at 120 N. Ozark St. Council meetings may also be viewed on YouTube by searching for “City of Girard, Kansas.” For more information, contact Girard City Hall at 620-724-8918.

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.