SAN CLEMENTE : Storm Trips an Old Alarm, Causes Scare

Panic-stricken residents who mistook an old fire alarm for a warning siren from the nearby San Onofre nuclear power plant jammed emergency telephone lines at the police station for about 20 minutes Tuesday night, authorities said.

The fire alarm, located across from the San Clemente police and fire station on Avenida Presidio, which has not been in use since 1978, was accidentally tripped around 11:35 p.m. by high winds and heavy rain, police said.

The loud siren, which can be heard throughout this seaside city of 35,000, was once the city’s only way to alert its off-duty and volunteer fire crews in an emergency, Police Sgt. Richard Downing said. The system was made obsolete when fire personnel were issued pagers.

Several emergency sirens for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, located five miles south of the city, are set up throughout South Orange County. Officials said these sirens were not sounded or affected by the storm system that swept through the area.