The city of Lake Charles Fire Department began maintaining the Lake Charles siren system in 1990 due to a release of phosgene by the Olin Corporation. After the release it was determined that only 4 of the 14 Lake Charles sirens were in working condition. The Fire Department began testing the sirens and the City of Lake Charles Radio Shop began maintenance. They have since established and conducted maintenance on the Lake Charles sirens.

     Louisiana Radio of Lake Charles maintains all the other sirens in Calcasieu Parish. This includes sirens in unincorporated areas as well as those in Sulphur and Westlake. Sirens within the cities of Sulphur and Westlake are repaired on an "as-needed" basis with no preventative maintenance on these sirens. The repairs and maintenance for these sirens are paid for by the respective city.

     The sirens in unincorporated areas are on a quarterly preventative maintenance schedule.

Mike Ford of Louisiana Radio spends approx. 40-60 minutes on each siren each quarter. Batteries are tested every three months and replaced every two years, but other sirens may have older batteries. This is important in that the sirens are powered by these batteries whenever activated; AC power is only used to keep these batteries charged.

     As far as it is known, no CAER siren is metered and therefore there is no charge for electricity to power the sirens.

The sirens are all scheduled to be tested weekly and are tested at the following times:
     •Sulphur - Monday at 11:45 am
     •Westlake - Monday at 12:00 noon
     •Lake Charles - Monday at 12:15 pm

     Upon activation of the tests, citizens may notify responsible agencies of the status of "their" siren and whether or not it was activated. In the past, employees of the plants and municipalities have also been sent out to listen to determine whether or not a siren is in working condition. This is not a consistent practice and would be an alternative to two-way sirens.

     The siren address (not physical address) for all Whelen sirens in Calcasieu Parish begins with 247. Sirens east of the Calcasieu River then are designated by having a one (1) after the 247, sirens which are primarily controlled by Westlake are numbered 247 and then have a two (2), and the sirens primarily controlled by Sulphur have a three (3) following the 247. The next digit in the address of the siren is either a nine or a zero. A siren which has a 9 in this next position is outside the city limits while the siren addressed with a 0 in the next position signifies that it was installed within the city limits.

The older sirens in the unincorporated areas are:
      •Arizona Street / Foster Drive
      •Michigan Avenue / Old Spanish Trail
      •Bayou D'inde Road / Thomas Cole Road