A storm with winds as high as 65 mph roared through Rush Township in mid-September, knocking down trees, twisting road signs and leaving 6,000 residents without power.

The Hometown Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 tackled more than 40 calls in the wake of the violent storm, working through the night and into the next day.

And when they finally returned to their station, they’d realize a deafening silence.

The fire company’s siren, a World War II-era model that sat high atop the station since 1948, had crashed to the ground.

“There were grown men crying,” Hometown Chief Barry Messerschmidt said, “and I was one of them.”

The siren was one of a kind, a rare survivor in the digital age. Its call was piercing and loud, and fittingly so, since its intent was to warn of air raids.

It became a fabric of the community, sounding each time the department responded to fires, accidents and other emergency calls.

A lifelong resident of Rush Township, Messerschmidt never lived without the siren. Neither did others.

“Basically, the residents were devastated because it has been here all their lives,” Messerschmidt said.

In the days and weeks following word of the siren’s demise, the company’s Facebook account was deluged by comments.

“‘Where’s the siren?’ ‘Are you getting another one?’ ‘Please get another one.’ ‘We miss it.’ ‘We want to know when you are going out’ - all that kind of stuff,” Messerschmidt said of the notes received.

It made sense.

Some found that it eased their nerves, he said.

“It lets the people know that we’re at it again. We’re out. It gives some people the reassurance that if something happens, the guys are going to be there,” Messerschmidt said.

In 2021, for example, crews responded to 297 calls. The siren sounded for all of them until its last service day on Sept. 13.

And while volunteers carry pagers and phones, Messerschmidt said the siren was an important and unmistakable backup.

“If you’re out cutting the grass or you’re in swimming and you don’t have your pager on you, you can hear the siren no matter where you’re at. So it becomes a safety issue,” he said. “And we’re still one of the few towns who had it.”

Fire company officials were determined to replace it, no matter the cost.

“Unfortunately, that model is no longer available, so we had to go to a digital siren,” he said.

The siren cost $17,000. A portion of it was covered by insurance and the company footed the remainder. Electrical contractor Daniel Meeko programmed and installed it.

It went online earlier this week.

“It’s not as loud,” Messerschmidt admitted.

The company is holding on to the old siren. Two people have expressed an interest in trying to get it up and running again, Messerschmidt said.