Red Cross Home Fire Campaign Gains Steam
The most recent effort saw ARC install nearly 1,000 alarms in North Carolina homes in one day.
The American Red Cross installed almost 1,000 smoke alarms in a single day in eastern North Carolina homes recently, which was part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, an initiative that aims to reduce casualties from home fires in America by 25 percent in the next five years. Red Cross workers and partners visit neighborhoods at high risk for home fires, to educate people about fire safety and install smoke alarms where they are absent.
Three Home Fire Campaign events, starting in Brunswick County, N.C., started when Red Cross workers joined the local fire department, North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministries, Energizer Batteries, UNCW Latinoa Alliance, the state Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot to install a record-setting 836 smoke alarms in the county. "Among the alarms were several SafeAwake devices for those who are hard of hearing. This event was held to honor residents impacted by two recent fatal fires in the community. The Brunswick County event involved more than 160 people installing alarms throughout the rural communities," according to ARC.
On the same day, ARC worked with North Carolina State students to install more than 65 alarms in another part of the region while another team installed some 60 alarms in Pitt County. The teams installed more than 965 alarms that day.
The Red Cross of Eastern North Carolina has installed more than 3,100 smoke alarms during the Home Fire Campaign that began in October of 2014.