By: Candace Brand, Communications Volunteer

Home fires are the most common disaster response for the American Red Cross, especially in Georgia. When a fire sparks, every minute matters to be alerted, escape, and call for help. The ongoing efforts of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign are increasing residents’ survival rates and safety awareness by providing smoke alarms, education, and disaster planning in neighborhoods most at risk. In Lowndes County alone, the Red Cross has installed 129 smoke alarms this past fiscal year.

Throughout the month of June, smoke alarm installations took place around the city of Valdosta. The American Red Cross of Georgia partnered with the Valdosta Fire Department and volunteers to create safer homes in the community.

“The American Red Cross would like to thank the Valdosta Fire Department, our volunteers, and Moody Air Force Base volunteers for an incredible multi-weekend fire alarm installation blitz,” said Jacqueline Shoemaker, Executive Director of the South Central Georgia Chapter. “The Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters a year and the majority of those are home fires. We value these partnerships as we work together to make Valdosta neighborhoods safer.”

The City of Valdosta’s Fire Chief, Brian Boutwell, says it is teamwork that makes initiatives like this possible.

“Being able to partner with the American Red Cross, providing the smoke alarms for these installs, and educating the community was just an amazing opportunity for us to be able to target three specific areas for this installation,” said Chief Boutwell.

The neighborhoods selected for the installations were previously identified as not having working smoke alarms. Erin Yoo, a Valdosta area volunteer who assisted with the blitz campaign, says that the work that goes into making a home safer requires not just herself and the fire department, but also the home’s residents.

“While the Fire Department installed the smoke alarms, the volunteers were in charge of providing education to the residents while in the home,” said Yoo.

The educational component is a crucial part of what makes this campaign successful. These educators talk with residents about creating fire safety checklists and fire escape plans. Once developed, they make sure to review it so they can act on it should a fire occur.

Yoo reflects on the day’s work, commenting that both residents and volunteers felt a greater sense of community being built. “I believe in the importance of fire safety and the impact it can have on saving lives. The statistics that home fires claim seven lives every day are sobering, and knowing that having working smoke alarms can cut the risk of death by half further realizes the urgency of this cause,” said Yoo.

Yoo makes this hard work look easy, however, making these events happen takes a lot of work and volunteers. Despite this, she looks forward to doing it again. “Knowing that I actively contributed to making the Valdosta community safer. Installing free smoke alarms and providing fire safety information that can potentially save lives, and working together with other Red Cross volunteers created this strong sense of community and collaboration.”

Fire Chief Boutwell echoed those comments, “Events like this have such an impact, and that’s something I really like to reflect on. Not just how it was data-driven, but to the interactions we had with the people and talking to them about the neighborhood, installing smoke alarms, and educating them on just how this works. Letting them know that we are here for you, even if it doesn’t always seem that way.”

Efforts continue nationwide to Save Lives with the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. If you or someone you know needs a smoke alarm, please visit the website here.