Dam siren blares false alarm to Skagit Valley town

Some residents of the Skagit Valley got a scare early Monday morning: An evacuation siren went off at 6:53 a.m. near the town of Hamilton.

Puget Sound Energy operates two dams on the Baker River, a tributary of the Skagit River, that turn runoff from Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan into hydropower.

Just to the south, eight sirens spread along a 12-mile stretch of Highway 20 are designed to blare should a dam fail.

The upper dam, 312 feet tall and 65 years old, holds back Baker Lake, while the lower dam, 285 feet tall and 99 years old, holds back Lake Shannon.

Here’s what blasted from a Puget Sound Energy loudspeaker just east of Hamilton:

The utility notified county emergency officials, who then notified residents that the dams were not in trouble: "Skagit County Department of Emergency Management: PSE siren is sounding. This is a siren failure. The dams are NOT failing. Do NOT evacuate."

Puget Sound Energy officials say they are investigating the false alarm.

“PSE takes this malfunction seriously and is working to troubleshoot the cause of the equipment failure,” Puget Sound Energy spokesperson Andrew Padula said by email.

Padula said the utility’s seven other dam sirens along Highway 20 stayed silent and are working as they should.

The utility upgraded its siren system for the dams in 2018.