The American Red Cross is getting ready to Sound the Alarm against home fires. From April 28th to May 13th, thousands of Red Cross volunteers and partners across the country will install 100,000 free smoke alarms in just 16 days in communities at high risk for fires.
Volunteers will be installing 100 free smoke alarms across Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates Counties on Saturday, May 12th. Members of the Regional Sound the Alarm Cabinet will be sending off those volunteers from the Finger Lakes Chapter headquarters in Corning. Red Cross volunteers and partners will then canvass high-risk neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and help families create escape plans.
“Smoke alarms save lives,” said Brian McConnell, American Red Cross, Finger Lakes Chapter Executive Director. “Three out of every five home fire deaths in this country happen in homes that don’t have working smoke alarms. So we here in the Finger Lakes are joining this national effortto install 100,000 alarms in homes that need them most.”
WHAT: Sound the Alarm Smoke Alarm Installation Event
WHERE: Headquarters: American Red Cross, Finger Lakes Chapter
123 West Market Street
Corning, NY 14830
Installations occurring throughout Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates Counties
WHEN: Saturday, May 12th, 2018
Sendoff: 8 a.m.
WHO: Brian McConnell, Executive Director
American Red Cross, Finger Lakes Chapter
Peter Wallin, Wallin Insurance Company
Red Cross volunteers and partners
MEDIA CONTACT: Jay Bonafede, Regional Communications Officer
Cell: (716) 435-7468; Email: [email protected].
These Sound the Alarm installation events are part of the multi-year Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, launched in 2014 to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries in this country. The campaign is making a difference. As of March 31st, 2018:
- The Home Fire Campaign is credited with helping to save 416 lives.
- Red Cross volunteers and 4,400 campaign partners have installed more than 1.2 million smoke alarms.
- 1.3 million people have been served through visits to more than a half-million homes.
- More than a million children have been reached through specially targeted programs.
Here in Western and Central New York, we installed 5,043 free smoke alarms and 1,990 households were made safer through the Home Fire Campaign last year. 16 confirmed lives have been saved in this region, including Sharon and her grandson, who were able to escape her burning home safely thanks to smoke alarms installed weeks earlier by the same Red Cross volunteer, Jerry Miller, who responded to provide immediate emergency assistance after her disaster. Watch Sharon and Jerry’s story here.
Join the Red Cross to help families like Sharon’s and fight against home fires today by volunteering to install smoke alarms in your community, making a financial contribution at redcross.org, or taking two easy steps to help save lives – practicing fire drills at home and checking your smoke alarms every month. Together, we can Sound the Alarm about fire safety and help save lives. Learn more at soundthealarm.org/wcny.
The Home Fire Campaign in the Western and Central New York Region is sponsored by National Fire Adjustment Co., Inc., and National Grid. This work is also made possible thanks to generous financial donations from national partners: Almost Family, Delta Air Lines and International Paper. The Red Cross has also received funding from FEMA through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
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.
