LOS ANGELES, March 18 — Today, the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region partnered with Edison International, City of Rosemead, Tzu Chi, LA County Fire Department, CERT, KIIS-FM, Farmers Insurance, CERT, and AMR Ambulance to install over 300 free smoke alarms in 108 homes serving 611 residents in the City of Rosemead. Red Cross and trained local community volunteers who spoke Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, Cantonese and English went door to door to install the smoke alarms and provide residents with critical home fire prevention information and earthquake preparedness to help get communities better prepared for emergencies.
“The City of Rosemead and our Emergency Preparedness Division is pleased to partner with the American Red Cross on the Home Fire Campaign to help reduce the number of fire related deaths and injuries in our community,” said Sandra Armenta, Mayor of the City of Rosemead. “The City realizes the vast majority of Red Cross responses are home fires and we place a priority on helping to keep our community members safe.”
There is an alarming number of homes fires in the Los Angeles area as well as the United States. That is why the American Red Cross has launched a nationwide Home Fire Campaign, which aims to reduce the number of fire related injuries by 25 percent in the next 3 years. Last year, the Los Angeles region of the Red Cross installed over 8,100 free smoke alarms alone.
“Home fires are extremely prominent in our community and can be devastating and deadly,” stated Veronica Garcia Davalos, Executive Director American Red Cross San Gabriel Pomona Valley. “We are recommending two easy steps to help protect their home and increase chances of surviving a fire: have working smoke alarms and create home fire escape plan.”
Education is one of the best ways to help prevent home fires. With the assistance of Edison International, the founding sponsor for PrepareSoCal, along with other partners such as LA County Fire, Red Cross volunteers go door to door to ask residents if they can check their smoke alarms or install new 10-year alarms at no cost. Fire experts agree that people may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late to get out. Working smoke alarms can double someone’s chance of surviving a fire.
The PrepareSoCal campaign is a multi-region campaign designed to address the needs of individuals and families to prepare for disasters, small and large, and to promote community resiliency within the most vulnerable communities.
To learn more about the American Red Cross preparedness tips, visit preparesocal.org.
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