No reason to be alarmed over Mount Rainier sirens, police say

PUYALLUP -- Residents who overheard a siren Thursday meant to alert Puyallup to a possible Mount Rainier eruption need not worry, police said. The siren was simply malfunctioning.

Q13 FOX News received tips Thursday morning that the Mount Rainier Lahar Warning siren in Puyallup went off around 7 a.m. Thursday. The siren only went off for a short time, then stopped.

Officials said the siren malfunctioned and was quickly fixed. There is no reason for alarm.

The Mount Rainier Lahar Siren project is part of an overall emergency communications system for Pierce County. The focus for the sirens is to warn the residents in the Puyallup River Valley of the need to evacuate due to a volcanic disaster from the Mount Rainier Volcano.

The siren is supposed to be activated only if "volcanic danger" is imminent.

For more on the Lahar warning sirens, click here.