Kidde Joins Local Fire Officials at the CMA Music Festival to Encourage Families to be 'Safety Super Heroes'

MEBANE, N.C., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kidde Fire Safety will empower the nearly one million attendees at this year's CMA Music Festival to be safety super heroes. From June 6-9, the leading manufacturer of residential fire safety products, along with volunteers from Help the Good Guys (HTGG), National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and Safe Kids Cumberland Valley at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt will host an interactive experience at the AT&T U-Verse Fan Fair X focusing on the 'Be a Hero, Save a Hero' campaign. Kidde is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

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'Be a Hero, Save a Hero' encourages homeowners to reduce the risk that firefighters face every time they respond to a house fire call by pledging to ensure their home has enough up-to-date and working fire safety equipment, and to have and practice a home fire escape plan.  

A premiere performance of country artist and HTGG supporter George Shingleton's new song "Proud" will take place on Friday, June 7. Written in response to the April fire in West, Texas that killed 12 firefighters, Shingleton will dedicate the song to the West and Houston firefighters recently killed and injured and the millions who risk their lives every day. For each person who downloads the song or takes and shares the pledge from alarmpledge.com, Kidde will donate up to $10,000 each to NFFF and HTGG, organizations dedicated to helping the families of injured and fallen firefighters.

"Firefighters put their lives on the line every time they answer a call, and the risk increases if they have to enter a burning home to rescue those inside," said Chris Rovenstine, vice president, marketing and sales, Kidde. "By working with the CMA and our non-profit partners, we are able to reach an extensive audience to share the 'Be a Hero, Save a Hero' pledge. This collaboration will help save the lives of families and firefighters across the nation."

A staggering number of Americans are unaware of home fire safety basics, which puts their families at risk. Seventy-four percent of respondents to a nationwide survey by Kelton Research could not correctly describe where to install smoke alarms in their home, while 43 percent admitted they don't know when to replace smoke alarms. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. home fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working alarms, mainly due to dead or missing batteries.

"The sooner an alarm is heard after an emergency arises, the more time there is to respond. By taking the simple online pledge, consumers will know the steps to help be fire safe and significantly increase the chance that they will have enough time to escape should a fire occur. With everyone out of the house, it decreases the chance a firefighter would be injured or killed trying to save a life," said Chief Ronald Siarnicki, executive director, NFFF.

Visit booth 755 at the Music City Center or www.alarmpledge.com.  Follow the event's activities via Twitter, @kiddesafety (#SaveaHero) and @countrymusic (#CMAFest), or www.facebook.com/kidde and www.facebook.com/CMA .     

About Kidde
As the world's largest manufacturer of residential fire safety products, Kidde's mission is to provide solutions that protect people and property from the effects of fire and its related hazards. For more than 90 years, Kidde has used advanced technology to develop residential and commercial smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguishers and other life safety products.  

Based in Mebane, N.C., Kidde is part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kidde.com.

SOURCE Kidde