In the country outside Lodi and Galt, large sirens sit atop poles on rural roads, including Jahant, Mackville and Simmerhorn.

They look like telephone poles until you see the dirty white horn on top. Each one is connected to an electrical box at eye level. The meters have been removed, and the padlocks securing the boxes are rusty. Each siren seems to face a different way, though that's just where they happened to stop spinning the last time they were used.

They're not old fire horns; rather, they're now-idle warning sirens in case of disaster at the former Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in Herald, east of Galt. The sirens are no longer connected to a power source, and the activating source has been cut off, too, said Dace Udris, spokeswoman for Sacramento Municipal Utilities District.

All told, 33 of them are placed around the area, she said.

The power district still owns the sirens, which were used in drills while the plant was active from 1974 to 1989, when Sacramento County residents voted to shut it down.

While the plant operated, the sirens were occasionally tested, with advance warnings to residents. Additionally, area fire departments regularly participated in training drills that were required by the federal government, said Liberty Fire Chief Stan Seifert.

"We practiced how to monitor and decontaminate, all the emergency steps that needed to be taken," he said.

Rancho Seco is permanently shut down, and now it's better known as a recreational area offering a park, trails and a swimming area. The large plant towers can still be seen from Twin Cities Road, as well as in clear images on Google's satellite mapping view.

The sirens are also a reminder, and longtime country residents still recall the long, loud tones they emitted.

— Layla Bohm