Storm warning sirens in Newton malfunctioned Tuesday evening and sounded from approximately 4:30 to 6 p.m.
The Jasper County storm warning sirens went off three to four times in periods that lasted several minutes. No other Jasper County cities were affected.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office called in a service vendor to assist with repair.
“We worked with it last night, and we are going to work with it again today to try to figure out what was going on and why they were going off. We did not set them off,” Jasper County Sheriff Chief Deputy Duane Rozendaal said.
The sheriff’s office notified the public about the malfunction at about 5 p.m.
“We’re working with the Newton Fire Department and the agencies that may have been installing some new sirens,” Rozendaal said. “They are checking into if there was something that may have interfered or may have not worked quite right.”
Two new warning sirens have recently been installed on both the east and west sides of Newton. Rozendaal said that with new installs, oftentimes a few bugs have to be worked out.
The sheriff’s office plans to alert the public when the sirens have been repaired and are back in normal working order.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com