Red Cross Volunteers Install 120,000 Free Smoke Alarms Nationwide to Exceed Sound the Alarm Goal

Family of Four Survives Home Fire Because of Smoke Alarms Installed by Volunteers

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May 21, 2019, 11:03 ET

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross recently installed more than 120,000 free smoke alarms with partners during its Sound the Alarm home fire safety initiative in more than 100 at-risk cities across the country.

During Sound the Alarm events held nationwide in April and May, more than 29,000 volunteers registered to canvass neighborhoods with community partners to make more than 50,000 households safer by installing free smoke alarms and helping families create home fire escape plans.

"We thank everyone who joined the Red Cross to Sound the Alarm and help save lives from home fires," said American Red Cross President & CEO Gail McGovern. "Because of incredible volunteers, partners and generous supporters, tens of thousands of vulnerable homes across the country are now safer from these everyday—and often tragic—emergencies."

Learn more about the events in this video: https://vimeo.com/333382418/144d180753

FAMILY CREDITS SOUND THE ALARM FOR SAVING THEIR LIVES Three days after volunteers had installed smoke alarms in Jackie Sturdivant's home, she and her three children survived a devastating electrical fire. In the middle of the night, one of the alarms awakened Jackie to alert her three children to safely escape through the front door with their pet dog, Ruby—just like they had discussed for their home fire escape plan.

"If I didn't hear that smoke alarm, we probably wouldn't be with each other right now," said Jackie, whose youngest son had also recently learned about fire safety through a Red Cross program at school.

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN SAVES 593 LIVES This spring's Sound the Alarm initiative—which exceeded a goal of installing 100,000 free smoke alarms—is part of the national Home Fire Campaign, which the Red Cross launched in 2014 to reduce death and injury from home fires. These crises kill seven people each day in the U.S.—most often in homes without working smoke alarms—and account for most of the more than 62,000 disasters that the Red Cross responds to each year.

Since 2014, the Red Cross and community partners have helped save the lives of at least 593 people—like Jackie and her family—across the country by:

Installing more than 1.7 million free smoke alarms
Reaching more than 1.3 million children through youth preparedness programs
Making more than 709,000 households safer from the threat of home fires

This work is made possible thanks to generous support from national partners: Airbnb, Delta Air Lines and Nissan North America.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

SOURCE American Red Cross