Huntley Police Report Emergency System Message Malfunction

A malfunction of the early warning system Tuesday morning sent out a message about a Hazmat situation in error, village officials said.

Huntley police conduct a monthly test of the early warning tornado system the first Tuesday of every month, Huntley Deputy Chief Todd Fulton said.

“When the test button was hit, the system broadcast a Hazmat warning (telling people) to take shelter,” Fulton said.

The message stated it was just a test, but the police department received numerous phone calls from residents about the message, he said.

Huntley police and the village sent out emails, a Nixle message and posted a notice on Facebook stating the emergency message was an error, said Barb Read, management assistant with the village of Huntley.

“We tried to get it out everyway we could,” Read said. “As long as I’ve been here, it’s never happened. It’s just a glitch somewhere and it was all taken care of.”

The police department will be looking into the problem and how it occurred, Fulton said.