LOS ANGELES, February 5, 2020 — Earlier this year, the American Red Cross announced that 699 lives have been saved through its national home fire safety campaign called Sound the Alarm. Every day, seven people die in home fires, most victims in homes that lack smoke alarms. To improve the odds and continue to save lives, American Red Cross Los Angeles Region will install free smoke alarms in Westlake and Pico-Union neighborhoods this Saturday, Feb. 8. The event strives to educate local residents on home fire prevention and safety.

WHAT: Sound the Alarm home fire safety and smoke alarm installation event Westlake and Pico-Union, where volunteers will canvass neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms and help families create home fire escape plans.

WHERE: 1450 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020

Event kick-off at 9:00 a.m.; smoke alarm installations to follow

Home fires claim seven people every day in the U.S. — most often, in homes without working smoke alarms. To prevent these needless tragedies, the Red Cross is rallying more than 100 local volunteers to install free smoke alarms in Westlake and Pico-Union neighborhoods.

Sound the Alarm events are part of the Home Fire Campaign, which the Red Cross launched in 2014 to reduce fire deaths and injuries. So far, it has reached more than 2.2 million people and saved 699 lives nationwide. In 2019, Red Cross LA volunteers and local partners:

• Installed more than 12,200 free smoke alarms
• Made more than 3,800 households safer from the threat of home fires

Every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster in the U.S.—and most of these events are home fires. Visit SoundTheAlarm.org/LosAngeles to learn more about our work.

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/la or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossLA or @CruzRojaLA.