HARMONY — The Harmony Fire District announced Friday it would cease using its siren to call volunteers when a fire dispatch comes through, saving the tone for other types of emergencies.

Tim Sapienza, fire district president, said with the ever-increasing use of technology and the increasing distances from which volunteers travel, the siren has actually become unnecessary and unhelpful.

“Those things are good for short-range. They're not good for miles and miles out into the country,” Sapienza said. “And today, many of our volunteers live far away. The siren isn't really needed anymore with the fact that we have pagers that alert and we're able to get an alert on the phones.”

The siren, however, will still be used in cases in which emergency preparedness is necessary, such as a tornado warning, as well as a short tone at noon and 6 p.m. daily. Sapienza said parents appreciate it, as their children know when to get home for dinner.

He added that the more sparse use of the tone, rather than residents hearing it at 5 a.m. for a response to a fire alarm, will help bring attention to such an emergency situation.

“That way, it's a distinctive tone people will hear, rather than hearing the siren blow for calls and then they'd ignore it if it would be an emergency of another type,” Sapienza said.