Red Cross offering free smoke alarm installations and home fire safety education

Red Cross offering free smoke alarm installations and home fire safety education

Register by calling 1-800-564-1234 or at redcross.org/MA for a free smoke alarm installation between May 1 and May 22

 

The American Red Cross of Massachusetts will be installing hundreds of free smoke alarms to communities in need in a targeted campaign called Sound the Alarm from May 1 to May 22.

 

“Our goal is to save lives,” said Kelly Isenor, Director of Communications for the Red Cross of Massachusetts. “Every day, our disaster action teams are responding to home fires around the Commonwealth. Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.”

 

The Red Cross offers free smoke alarm installations 365 days a year to any Massachusetts resident (regardless of renter or homeowner status), but in the month of May, surges efforts in five vulnerable communities: Brockton, Everett, Methuen, Springfield and Worcester. Anyone interested in a free smoke alarm should call 1-800-564-1234 or visit redcross.org/MA to schedule an appointment. During the 20-minute home visits, Red Cross volunteers will also share information on the causes of home fires, how to prevent them, what to do if a fire starts and how to create an escape plan.

 

“Most people don’t realize they only have two minutes to escape a home fire — and that smoke alarms need to be replaced every 10 years,” Isenor said. “Taking action with this knowledge can be the difference between survival and tragedy.”

 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Event volunteers are needed to install 400 smoke alarms and share fire safety information with families. Register at SoundTheAlarm.org/MA to join this rewarding day of giving back. No prior experience is needed — training will be provided. You can also make a financial donation to the Red Cross to help people prepare for, respond to and recover from home fires.

 

MASSACHUSETTS JOINS NATIONAL SOUND THE ALARM EFFORT This Sound the Alarm event is part of a national Red Cross initiative in May to install 50,000 free smoke alarms with partners in more than 50 at-risk communities across the country. Sound the Alarm events are a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. As of March 31, the Home Fire Campaign has helped save 1,275 lives since launching in October 2014. As part of the campaign, the Red Cross and local partners have installed more than 2.3 million free smoke alarms, making more than 980,000 households safer.

 

This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from regional partners as well as our statewide Sound the Alarm sponsor National Grid.

 

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/MA or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossMA.