Red Cross home fire campaign has saved at least 642 lives, installed nearly 2 million free smoke alarms in five years
NASHVILLE— National Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 6-12, and the American Red Cross urges everyone to practice their home fire escape plan and test their smoke alarms.
“This is the time of year we see more home fires happen,” said Joel Sullivan, regional
executive for the American Red Cross of Tennessee. “As cold weather increases the risk of home fires increases. We are urging all Tennessee families to please prepare your family now during Fire Prevention Week.”
The Red Cross suggests testing smoke alarms on every level of your home and practice an escape plan to make sure everyone in the home can get out in two minutes or less if a fire were to occur.
Practice your plan, test your smoke alarms
For free home fire safety resources, visit redcross.org/homefires or download the free Red Cross Emergency App (search “American Red Cross” in app stores).
- Include at least two ways to get out of each room in your home fire escape plan.
- Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone can meet.
- Practice your escape plan until everyone can get out in two minutes or less.
- Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, placing them inside and outside bedrooms, and sleeping areas.
- Test smoke alarms monthly, and change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
Lifesaving home fires campaign marks five years
Home fires take seven lives each day in the U.S., most often in homes without working smoke alarms. That’s why the Red Cross is working with partners to install free smoke alarms in high-risk communities and help families create escape plans through its Home Fire Campaign, which launched five years ago in October 2014.
Over the past five years, the campaign has saved at least 642lives across the country by:
- Installing nearly 2 million free smoke alarms.
- Reaching more than 1.4 million children through youth preparedness programs.
- Making more than 793,000 households safer from the threat of home fires.
Save the date: The annual “Sound the Alarm, Save a Life” home fire prevention and smoke detector installation campaign begins April 18, 2020 throughout the Tennessee region. We will have more information about this volunteer event in your communities in the coming months.
