National Sound the Alarm Effort Empowers Thousands to Stay Safe From Home Fires

Red Cross volunteer provides fire safety information to resident

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Red Cross volunteers Celeste Carrola and Benjamin Quick share home fire safety information with Gerald Davis as part of the Sound the Alarm visit. Davis made a Sound the Alarm appointment with the Red Cross because he wanted his San Antonio, Texas, home to be safer. “I cannot thank you all enough for being here today,” David said. “It means so much.” Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross

Red Cross volunteer helps resident install smoke alarms

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During a Sound the Alarm visit at the doorstep of Savannah, Georgia, resident Helene Byrd, Red Cross volunteer Robert Brown discussed the importance of smoke alarms and having a home fire escape plan. Both Byrd and Brown remember a tragic house fire that took the lives of two neighborhood children just a few years ago. “If everybody in the neighborhood was informed about fire safety four years ago, those two children who lost their lives might still be alive today,” said Byrd, who intends to practice her fire escape plan with her family as a result of the visit. Photo by Stephen B. Morton/American Red Cross

Red Cross volunteer shows resident fire escape plan

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During a Sound the Alarm doorstep visit Red Cross volunteer Melanie Pandich shows Rochester, New York, resident Mary Kay Smyth a sample home fire escape plan. “You really don’t want to lose someone to a fire,” Smyth said. “If you can do anything to change that, you should.” Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

June 28, 2021

This spring, the American Red Cross helped educate more than 73,000 people on how to protect themselves against home fires — which continue to be the nation’s most frequent disaster during COVID-19.

As part of the national Sound the Alarm effort in more than 50 high-risk communities, Red Cross volunteers and community partners shared home fire safety information with families and helped them create home fire escape plans. Local partner fire departments also installed free smoke alarms in homes where it was safe to do so.

This national Sound the Alarm effort is part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has helped save more than 850 lives and serve 2.4 million people across the country since launching in October 2014. Learn more in this video.

‘I FEEL MORE PROTECTED’ Rita Thompson is one of the thousands of people who learned how to stay safe from home fires. Outside her home, she spoke with Red Cross volunteers about her plan to escape while using her cane. Volunteers also answered her questions about avoiding cooking fires — the top of cause of home fires in the U.S. — and how to properly use a space heater, another common cause of fires. Meanwhile, local firefighters installed free smoke alarms to replace outdated ones in her home.

“I just thought it was important to protect my property and I wasn’t really sure if my smoke alarms were up-to-date,” said Thompson, who lives with two cats. “I feel more protected.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO Most of us don’t realize we have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late, according to a 2020 Red Cross survey. Follow these steps to help protect your family:

Create an escape plan with at least two ways to exit every room in your home.
Practice your plan until everyone in your household can get out in less than two minutes.
Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. Change the batteries at least once a year if your model requires it.
Check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they likely need to be replaced. Follow your alarm’s manufacturer instructions.

For more home fire safety tips and resources, visit redcross.org/fire.

This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from national partners, including Delta Air Lines.

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 follow us on social media.