"Form of torture": Los Angeles residents say a loud fire alarm has regularly sounded at a local studio for years

Neighbors living near a music recording studio in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles say they're constantly hearing noise in the area, but it's anything but artistic.

For as long as three years, nearby residents have heard what they describe as an obnoxious, annoying, super loud alarm at Pirate Music Studios, which, ironically enough, has a sign near the gate reading "LOUD MUSIC IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED." One neighbor said it sounded like a "nuke" was about to go off.

"It sounds like some form of torture if I'm being completely honest," said Rachel Liner, who lives close by. "I'm about a block away and I can hear it with all my windows closed, all my doors closed, with a fan on, with earbuds in."

It happens a few times a week, neighbors say, most often in the less-than-ideal hours between midnight and 5 a.m. Liner theorizes that the alarm sounds when a person on the property uses an emergency exit door, or it could activate when people trespass the property to smoke.

Liner says she's communicated with Pirate Music Studios about the issue, but the problem is they have no on-site employees. Patrons simply book a room at the 24-hour-a-day business and leave when they're done. She said off-site reps insisted to her that they're working with building management to solve the issue.

In a statement, Pirate Music Studios told CBS LA a similar story.

"We know the alarm noise has been frustrating for our neighbors, and we're sorry for the disruption it's caused," Pirate said. "The alarm system belongs to the building and isn't something we're able to modify directly, but we've raised the sensitivity and volume issue with building management and continue to push for it to be addressed."

But to nearby residents, that explanation is three years too late.

"Please we really need help. It's really bothering a lot of people or hard-working people in this whole entire area who just want some sleep," one neighbor said. 

Residents told CBS LA that the obnoxious noise has created a "The Boy Who Cried Wolf " effect  —  they worry that if a real fire ever comes, they'll brush it off as another false alarm.