Greater Rochester Red Cross sounds alarm on home fire safety

The American Red Cross of Greater Rochester is working to make the community safer through its annual Sound the Alarm campaign, part of a national effort to install 50,000 free smoke alarms over the course of this fiscal year across high-risk neighborhoods in communities throughout the nation. Saturday, May 6, is the designated day of action in the greater Rochester area, with a goal of installing at least 300 free smoke alarms in more than 100 area homes.

Sound the Alarm is an integral part of the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, an ongoing initiative designed to prevent deaths and injuries from home fires, which account for most of the more than 60,000 disasters that the organization responds to each year. The impact of home fires is staggering:
•Home fires claim seven lives on average every day, most often in homes without working smoke alarms.
•Each day on average, 30 people suffer injuries from home fires.
•In a typical year, home fires kill more people than all natural disasters combined in the U.S.
•More than $7 billion in property damage occurs every year due to home fires.
•Nearly 170 times a day, the Red Cross helps a family affected by a home fire or other disaster

In fiscal year 2022, Red Cross Disaster Volunteers responded to 296 disaster events – the vast majority of which were home fires – and provided immediate emergency assistance to cover costs of shelter, food and clothing to 586 families. According to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY), through the first nine weeks of 2023, 46 people died in residential fires in New York State, the most in our nation. Further, New York is already on pace to have the most residential fire-related deaths in the country for the fourth time in six years.

“Red Cross volunteers respond to home fires within the footprint of our greater Rochester chapter on nearly a daily basis, said Nick Bond, Regional CEO, American Red Cross of Western New York. “Some communities in our region are especially vulnerable to home fires and we want to harness the power of our volunteers, as well as the generosity of our donors, to ensure that we make those families safer.”

Research indicates that a working smoke alarm can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half. Fire experts agree that you may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late to get out. Area residents interested in having up to three free smoke alarms installed are encouraged to register by visiting http://Redcross.org/homefiresafetyWNY.

Bond noted that the ability of the Red Cross to meet the local need depends on the participation of volunteers, who work in groups of three to install alarms and provide safety education, including escape plans.

“We absolutely need close to 100 volunteers to meet our goal of making our community safer,” Bond said. “Our installation day of May 6 offers a spirit of camaraderie and a sense of personal fulfillment in knowing that you have helped a family stay safe, and possibly save lives.”

Those signing on as volunteers for the day will receive brief training and equipment the morning of the May 6 event, which starts out at Kodak Center, 200 West Ridge Road. Individuals interested in volunteering can register by visiting http://Redcross.org/homefiresafetyWNY.

Since its launch in 2014, the Sound the Alarm campaign has been credited with saving 47 lives in the western New York Region and more than 1,400 nationally. Over the past nine years, local volunteers have reached 14,187 homes and installed 29,764 smoke alarms, making thousands of residents safer.

How to keep your family safe
Help protect your family against home fires by taking two simple steps: Practice your two-minute escape drill and test your smoke alarms monthly. Visit http://www.redcross.org/homefiresafetyWNY for more information and to pledge to prepare your family against home fires.
•Create an escape plan with at least two ways to exit every room in your home. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
•Practice your escape 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.

This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from regional partners: National Grid, M&T Bank, and Linde Corporation.