Alpena County 911, Emergency Management

06/07/2026

With temperatures in the area rising we wanted to take a moment to remind everyone of the dangers of leaving children, vulnerable adults or pets in a vehicle on a warm day. Since 1998, over 1000 children have died in the United States from heat stroke after they were left unattended in a hot car. When outside temperatures rise above 70 degrees on a sunny day, the temperature inside the vehicle can rise 30-40 degrees after just a half hour (although deaths have occurred on cooler days as well). Studies have also shown that there is little to no difference in temperature inside a car when the windows are completely closed versus if they are cracked open a few inches. As far as pets go, dogs and cats cannot sweat like humans and panting inside a car with recycled very hot air gives no relief, which can quickly damage their health as well.

The bottom line is never leave a child or vulnerable adult unattended in a vehicle, especially on a warm sunny day. “Look twice before you lock” to save a life. Please see the Michigan law regarding unattended children in vehicles –

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-750-135A

For pets, if you’re going somewhere and aren’t able to take them inside with you anyway, please just leave them at home. Central Dispatch receives multiple calls nearly every day during warm months about people leaving dogs in vehicles at local retail stores or other businesses. If available, we will ask officers to respond to check the welfare of the animal and try to make contact with the owner. However, potentially life-threatening situations with humans, crimes in progress, and other criminal complaints will take priority.

Below are some links with more information on the subject. As always, be safe and be smart!

http://noheatstroke.org/

http://heatkills.org/the-facts/

https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/child-passenger-safety/kids-hot-cars

06/07/2026

Early CPR and early defibrillation are vital to positive outcomes for patients in cardiac arrest. Our dispatchers are all trained in emergency medical dispatch and routinely give CPR instructions over the phone and can assist with the use of AED’s. Devices like this one have visual and audible instructions so they can easily be used by anyone without any training.

This AED is now available year around at Culligan Plaze thanks to AAACU for buying the cabinet. Thunder Bay Electric installed it. Anonymous donor has now bought 4 AEDs to put in our park’s including this one. This anonymous donor also has them at Starlite Beach and both pickleball courts in our community. A big thank you to all our community for making this program work!
If anyone would like to contribute please feel free to reach out to the City of Alpena Fire Department.

05/27/2026

AFD will be doing training tomorrow at 3rd / Ripley

05/27/2026

Some AHS students will be driving tractors to school tomorrow so please be aware and use caution in the area.

Tomorrow is drive your tractor to school day. Any FFA member participating should be at AHS by 7:00 am and plan to park in the front oval in the morning. You will be moving tractors to the back of school after the morning. We will be grilling lunch for all participants in the agriscience shop!

05/22/2026

Reminder that fireworks are legal anywhere in Michigan this weekend, Saturday and Sunday until 11:45pm. The City of Alpena and Sanborn Twp are the only municipalities in the county that have fireworks ordinances to address use outside of those times. Now is the time to plan ahead for July 4th and America’s semiquincentennial by making vet appointments and plans for your pets, etc.

05/22/2026

FYI the bridge near Long Rapids Rd and Bolton Rd is back open

05/18/2026

We were saving this post for later this month but it seems more topical today since we already had to set the sirens off earlier:

June 6th at 1pm will be our first regularly scheduled Weather Siren test of the year. We did not complete a test in May due to low or near freezing temperatures that could have damaged equipment. Weather sirens in our county are tested on the first saturday of every month at 1pm during the spring, summer and fall as long as temperatures are within acceptable ranges. Each test lasts two minutes. Outside of those times the sirens are activated whenever there is a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning for anywhere in Alpena County, as broadcasted by the National Weather Service (NWS). The sirens can also be used for other extreme situations or disasters like hazardous chemicals release, dam failure, or similiar situations that would affect a high number of the population of our county. As we have seen in the past few years, nowhere in Michigan is immune to rare and extreme weather, so in addition to the emergency alert system and our local code red notification system, weather sirens are the most rudimentary and reliable backup for mass local notification of a weather event and are routinely used nationwide. We do not take activating the sirens lightly and will only do so if we have to, in accordance with county policies.

•Tornado Warning: tornadoes are occuring or are imminent as confirmed by the National Weather Service. Or a visual sighting from a trained weather spotter or first responder has confirmed a tornado’s location.

•Severe Thunderstorm Warning: severe thunderstorms are present with wind speeds reaching 58mph or greater and / or hail 1 inch or greater, or similiar storm conditions exist that may pose a threat to life or property as indicated by the national weather service.

We inevitably get calls every time the sirens go off asking about their activation. If theres a weather event happening this only adds to the volume of what we’re dealing with, so please educate family, friends and loved ones prior to their activation to avoid unneccesary phone calls. Please note that sometimes weather can appear clear in one part of the county when other parts are expieriencing the severe weather event. We don’t single out specific parts of the county during weather events because weather and people move from one place to another constantly and unpredictably. If the sirens go off outside of testing times please take it seriously regardless of how things look around you.

05/06/2026

THANK YOU!

Per the Alpena News, the county 911 surcharge renewal passed! We are extremely grateful for everyones support. This renewal secures funding for our center for the forseeable future.

05/05/2026

Polls are open until 8pm, please come out and support us!

05/04/2026

Reminder that the vote for the 911 surcharge renewal is tomorrow - Tuesday, May 5th. This is extremely important and we appreciate the community’s help. Please make plans for you and your loved ones to vote before going out to celebrate cinco de mayo so you don’t forget. Polls are open from 7a-8p. To find your polling location, view a sample ballot, or to check registration status visit the Michigan Voter Information Center at https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index . Please see our FAQ that is pinned to our page if you have any questions. Thank you!