You’ve Been Warned

Goleta has notified its citizens — and Bacara will be notifying its guests — but passersby might be surprised to hear a siren going off at Venoco’s Ellwood facility on Tuesday. It’s the annual test of the hazardous airborne materials siren, and the city and county will be stationing emergency responders at various locations to ensure that the alarm is audible. Once they hear it, the siren will stop. Reverse 9-1-1 calls are also planned to alert residents to the test.

Sounding much like an old-fashioned air-raid siren, according to Elsa Arndt with the county’s Office of Emergency Management, the exercise will occur on July 28 around 9:30 a.m. Any sounding of the alarm for an actual hazardous release would be accompanied by Reverse 9-1-1 calls notifying residents of the emergency. More information is available at the Office of Emergency Management website.