The topic of the Hometown Fire Siren, mentioned during public comment during the last Rush Township meeting, was briefly revisited Thursday night.

"We want the siren," resident Pat Tracey said. "The louder, the better."Resident Joe Shamonsky, who complained about the siren last month, did not comment; and Hometown Chief Barry Messerschmidt, who attended, also did not comment on that matter.It's an issue that residents raise from time to time all over the state. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency has no regulations about fire station sirens and leaves decisions on whether or not to keep the sirens up to the local fire companies.In Schuylkill County, 47 municipalities have fire sirens while eight do not.How loud is too loud? Sound is measured in decibels, or dBs. Prolonged exposure to decibels at 85 and above can cause hearing loss.Earplugs can alleviate some of the problems. Both soft and hard earplugs have a noise reduction rating, or NRR, which is a laboratory measurement of how much sound is blocked. Soft, disposable earplugs have a NRR of 30.And the NRR is measured adjacent to the object making noise. Structures such as a house can effect the dB level of an outdoor noise, reducing it by 30 decibels.For example, let's say parents have hired a rock band for a graduation party. The average rock band dB is 110. Mom and Dad are watching, wearing earplugs, reducing the dB to 80. If they step inside the house, the dB is further reduced to 50.Here are some dB ratings for common noise makers:70 - vacuum cleaner80 - electric shaver, dial tone, alarm clock85 - smoke alarm, blender90 - shop tools such as circular saws, train whistle at 500 feet95 - fire alarm100 - chainsaw, lawnmower, car horn110 - rock music (audience)120 - rock music (playing), thunder, riveter130 - jack hammer140 - air raid siren150 - firecracker170 - shotgun