The American Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter, Tulsa Dream Center and Tulsa Fire Department teamed up for a successful Sound the Alarm home fire safety event.

Volunteers hit the streets in north Tulsa and Kendall-Whittier neighborhoods. They installed nearly 300 free smoke alarms, helped residents create escape plans and offered home fire safety information. As a result, more than 160 Tulsa homes in these areas at high risk of home fires are now safer.

“A working smoke alarm can be the difference between survival and tragedy when a home fire strikes,” said Alice Townsend, Regional CEO for the Red Cross serving Kansas and Oklahoma. “We’re grateful for the volunteers and partners who spent a day with us to help ensure Tulsa’s most vulnerable residents have these lifesaving devices.”

Tulsa Dream Center served as the event headquarters. Tulsa Fire Department brought trucks and several firefighters for the event.

Some homes had no smoke alarms. Others had alarms that were not working. In one home, volunteers replaced an alarm that was decades old, broken and had been painted over.

Janis McLain welcomed in volunteers and firefighters to install five smoke alarms in her home: two in the downstairs area and one in each upstairs bedroom. Her 6-year-old granddaughter, who calls her “Gigi,” was at her house when the Red Cross visited.

“It feels better already,” McLain said as volunteers wrapped up their work.

Volunteers participated in community events and canvassed neighborhoods in north Tulsa and Kendall-Whittier for several months to get residents signed up for appointments and build awareness of the installation event.

TULSA EVENT PART OF NATIONAL CAMPAIGN Local Sound the Alarm events like this one in Tulsa are a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has helped save at least 2,030 lives since launching in October 2014. Locally during this time, the Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter and local partners have now installed about 3,400 free smoke alarms and made more than 2,000 households safer.

Ready to join us in this movement? Visit www.SoundTheAlarm.org/Oklahoma to volunteer for an event near you or to donate to the Home Fire Campaign.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.