It seems the prankster who set off the Cold War-era siren atop an Oregon State University building on midnight New Year's Day and again in mid-January may be an accidental good Samaritan.

The loud racket, heard throughout Corvallis, was a noisy reminder to OSU officials about the old Civil Defense air siren on the roof of Covell Hall.

The Thunderbolt brand siren, manufactured in the early 1950s, hadn't been tested since the 1980s, and was largely forgotten n but obviously was still functional.

Now it will have a new home in Clatsop County, where it will warn people of impending tsunamis.

"It served no purpose to the university," said Lt. Phil Zerzan, the station commander of Oregon State Police at OSU. "It wasn't any part of the university's or the county's emergency plan. A lot of people didn't even realize it was here, so it was kind of fortuitous that it went off on New Year's."

OSU is giving the siren to Clatsop County, and its blare will reach residents in Warrenton, Hammond and Astoria in the event that a tsunami looms.

The county already has a siren that covers Seaside and Cannon Beach.

New, a tsunami siren would cost the county between $25,000 and $50,000 - money it doesn't have right now, said Gene Strong, Clatsop County emergency services coordinator.

The Covell Hall siren will be housed in a fire station in Hammond. Moving it will cost about $1,000, and there will be some additional installation and refurbishing expenses, Strong said. County officials hope to have it up and functioning by the end of summer.

About 4,000 people live in the area the siren will serve, but that figure can triple during summer tourism season, Strong said.

If a tsunami does hit the coast, the siren will signal people to follow pre-planned evacuation routes to higher ground.

"That north coast is particularly vulnerable to tsunamis," Zerzan said.

Strong, along with about six volunteers from Clatsop County Amateur Radio Emergency Services, struck out for OSU around 6 a.m. Saturday.

By 1 p.m., they had the control panel removed and wiring undone, and were ready for an Alpine Crane operator to hoist the 25-feet tall siren from the roof of Covell.

The volunteers watched, hard hats firmly in place, as the siren was lifted into the air.

"This is the part that's a little dicey now," Zerzan said.

After making sure the siren's center of gravity was stable, so it wouldn't flip on its way to the ground, and working out a system of hand signals to communicate with the crane operator below, the men saw their hard work pay off.

The siren safely made its way down to a truck waiting in a parking lot behind Covell.

"That went better than I expected," Zerzan said.