More than 40 volunteers with the American Red Cross New Jersey Region, the Township of Mount Holly, their Office of Emergency Management, the Mount Holly Fire Division and other community partners, joined together to install free smoke alarms for families vulnerable to home fires during our Sound the Alarm event in Mount Holly on Saturday, May 4.

Every day, seven people die in home fires, most often in homes without working smoke alarms. That’s why the Red Cross launched our Home Fire Campaign in 2014 to save lives. Sound the Alarm events are a critical part of the campaign. Through our home visits nationwide, we’ve installed more than 2.5 million free smoke alarms and made more than 1 million households safer across the country.

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While addressing the crowd of volunteers, Mount Holly Mayor Chris Banks said, “A working smoke alarm can be the difference between survival and tragedy when a home fire strikes. That’s why we’re so pleased to see so many of you out here today. Thank you for caring about our community and helping to make homes safer!”

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While canvassing in the neighborhood, one team of volunteers met Robin and her five-year-old granddaughter Journee. The team checked their home’s existing smoke alarms and replaced them immediately once they discovered that two of the alarms were more than 20 years old.

“There was a fire two houses down the street a few weeks ago and I woke up in the middle of the night. It’s scary to think it could have been this house,” said Robin. After the volunteers installed four smoke alarms in their home and spent time educating young Journee and her grandmother about the importance creating a home fire escape plan and practicing it, she said she felt blessed. “This is good work you’re doing, and we really appreciate it.”

Volunteers installed more than 130 free smoke alarms in 67 Mount Holly homes that day and educated more than 200 people about important fire safety measures they can take to prevent home fires and be better prepared should one occur.

Once finished, teams gathered back at the historic Mount Holly Fire Division headquarters Pine Street, where they enjoyed a robust lunch and shared stories of the day.

Our thanks to our wonderful partners with the Township of Mount Holly and Mount Holly Fire Division as well as volunteers from Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Kappa Upsilon Sigma Chapter serving Burlington and Atlantic County, Mu Beta Phi Fraternity, Inc., Burlington County CERT/MRC, Greater Philadelphia Church of Christ, Hope World Wide, and Morgan Properties for their incredible support!

HELP PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR LOVED ONES

Visit SoundTheAlarm.org/NJ to find out more about how to protect yourself and your loved ones from fire, access free fire safety resources, and learn more about the Home Fire Campaign.