Warning and scene lighting system

A method of operating a lighting system mounted on an emergency vehicle comprising:

• receiving user input to raise at least one elongated lighting bar having a plurality of lighting elements arranged in a substantially linear array to a generally vertical position;
• raising the at least one lighting bar to a generally vertical position in response to the user input;
• and
• automatically operating the plurality of lighting elements according to a predetermined repeating on/off sequence involving at least one lit lighting element in a first lighting intensity in the general center of the lighting bar, to at least two lit lighting elements in a second light intensity higher than the first lighting intensity including the at least one lit lighting element, to at least three lit lighting element in a third lighting intensity higher than the second light intensity including the at least two lit lighting element, and so on until all of the lighting elements in the lighting bar are lit.

An emergency lighting system comprising:

• at least two lighting bars mounted to a horizontally-mounted base, the lighting bars each comprises a plurality of lighting elements operable to emit high-intensity light;
• the at least two lighting bars having two operating positions, a first substantially lowered position and a second substantially raised position;
• and
• a controller electrically coupled to the at least two lighting bars and configured to receive user input and controllably selectively place one or more of the lighting bars in one of a raised and lowered positions in response to the user input, the controller further configured to operate the plurality of lighting elements in a predetermined repeating on/off sequence involving increasing number of lit lighting elements and increasing light intensity over time.