The Idaho Red Cross and its community partners hope to install 600 free smoke alarms in Nampa homes in April and are looking for volunteers to help.

Volunteers will go door-to-door in Nampa neighborhoods April 26-27, installing free alarms and educating families about fire safety. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, and training and lunch will be provided. About 170 volunteers will be needed.

“Every day, seven people lose their lives in home fires across this country – often because they don’t have working smoke alarms and a plan how to escape safely during a home fire,” said Chris Volmer, Red Cross disaster program manager in southwest Idaho. “We need your help making these Nampa homes safer.”

The Idaho Red Cross is partnering with the Nampa Fire Department, the City of Nampa, the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Consulate of Mexico in Boise and the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho during this year’s installation event, which will occur rain or shine.

Volunteers are welcome to take part one or both days. Spanish-speaking volunteers are needed.

To register, please visit redcross.org/nampa.

The Nampa Sound the Alarm event is part of a nationwide Red Cross effort to install alarms in homes in 100 U.S. cities during a two-week push this spring. Through its Home Fire Campaign, the Red Cross and its volunteers have installed more than 1.5 million smoke alarms and saved more than 500 lives since 2014.

Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster and account for the vast majority of Red Cross disaster responses each year. In 2018 alone, the Red Cross responded to 60,000 home fires, providing emotional support to affected families, help securing a safe place to stay and assistance with urgent recovery needs. Since 2018, the Idaho Red Cross has responded to more than 340 home fires.

On average, families have less than two minutes to escape their home safely during a fire so working smoke alarms can make all the difference.

People also are encouraged to make a donation to support the Sound the Alarm program by visiting SoundTheAlarm.org.

If you have questions about volunteering or forming a volunteer team, call Danielle Pozernick at 208-258-0592.

This work is made possible thanks to generous support from national partners: Airbnb, Delta Air Lines and Nissan North America.