LAs COLD WAR AIR RAID SIRENS

Hiding in plain site above the city of Los Angeles are World War Two air raid sirens. Put up to warn of a incoming aerial attack, there are still 200 of them looming above the city. Once you notice one you cant unsee them.

A complete map of the remaining air raid sirens:

For more documentary vids covering Los Angeles history, culture, and urbanism follow Heart of the City:

[Csx]

Those where cold war era sirens, most of them started their production in the 1950s so they are not from wwii

[EastDetroitMusic-SirensA]

These were Cold War Era Air Raid Sirens. All of which produced by Federal Signal.

Sirens mostly consist of SD-10s, 500-DTs, Model 5 & 7T’s. Most if not all sirens in Los Angeles are dual toned sirens and haven’t been used since the era of Civil Defense ended in 1994 for most of the United States repurposing the sirens just for Severe Weather/Natural Disasters.

[riverkieffer]

Those are cold war sirens and are probably also used for severe weather

[capefeartrainsandsirens]

That SD-10 is clean! Down here in North Carolina a good majority of the sirens serve as fire/storm sirens though some sirens used to be WW2/Cold War sirens. These sirens were mostly Thunderbolts, 500s, SD-10s, and a Chrysler in Raleigh. Most, if not all, CD sirens used during WW2/Cold War Era are gone or rotting away.

[SnortySnort-fd]

I grew up in LA and we would hear these being tested for once a month. I actually found it cool and enjoyed hearing them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. 😊

[estebandiaz]

In my teens (80’s) I worked at the May Company store and I recall testing once a month(last Friday of the month) I believe. It was intimidating.

[北川幻汲]

These sirens have only been used ONCE during WWII, during the Battle of Los Angeles (Feb. 1942).
An unidentified flying object was found over the city at 3:00 am local time, so anti-air cannons shot at it. Five people ended uo dying, from either a car accident or a heart attack.

[Untitled_Twig]

I swear, if I’m going on a jog, and i come across a siren, and that shit goes off randomly, ima have a mf heart attack

[Red_Stinger]

Fun fact: the flower air raid siren is a PokéStop


“THE MORE YOU KNOW”

[tonyhernandez]

I saw Burger King and I was singing the whopper song

[johnperri]

You could Use them for things like Earthquakes, Tornados, & other Emergencies, Storm warnings 😮

[Bob-jmkl]

Funny. Where I live there's one 3 blocks from home and one 2 blocks from work. They go off every month like clockwork and during the summer when the weather gets gnarly.

[AWBepi]

Our air raid siren went off the first monday of every month until almost in the nineties. Whenever you.
Heard it you would ask yourself what day it was and it was monday morning then you could carry on.

[thereseember]

Over 1, 000 air raid sirens were installed in Los Angeles (4 types) but only 231 remain, although none are in active service. They were frightening to hear — on Friday at 10 am for 3 minutes. All school children had to immediately duck under their desks & cover their heads. There were also fallout atomic bomb shelters all over Los Angeles as well. News stations & newspapers were frequently warning the public about possible nuclear attacks from USSR missiles on Cuba pointed at America. The air raid sirens sounded a 30-minute warning, which is how long it would take for missiles to hit Los Angeles.

[mFxRampoo]

bold to assume anyone is LA is going to work 😭

[toddster]

The City of Los Angeles air raid siren system used to be tested on the last Friday of every month, at 10 a.m. I believe the test went on for 3 minutes. They were always tested in attack mode. The system was hardwire activated and had no battery backup. It was disconnected many years ago. Those sirens that still remain standing are a reminder of the past.

[atlas_on_pws]

I ALMOST PUNCHED MY PHONE WHEN I SAW THE YELLOW CAR! only legends understand

[lilliegvmi]

in the Midwest we use these for tornadoes

[RandomGeorgianOfficial]

All fun and games until the sirens go off

[GiTchddragon]

When I lived in Pennsylvania, there was one of those right outside of our bank and the creepy part was: it ALWAYS rang at 12:30 until they took it down