Sound the Alarm Home Fire Campaign Kicks Off in March
February 28, 2023 – American Red Cross volunteers responded to 32 home fires in Chicago, Zion, Harvey, Park City, Skokie, Grayslake, Evanston, Ford Heights, Park Forest, Glenwood, Crystal Lake, and Waukegan in the past week.
Red Cross volunteers with the Disaster Action Team provided temporary housing, health and mental health services, financial assistance, and information about recovery planning to 122 adults and 45 children impacted by these incidents.
Home fires claim more lives than all natural disasters combined every year. A fire can take a home in as little as two minutes therefore, escaping in less than two minutes can be the difference between survival and tragedy. The Red Cross encourages everyone to talk to their children about fire safety to help families stay safe. We want to ensure families and children are prepared.
TWO STEPS TO PREVENT FIRE TRAGEDIES To help protect your family year-round, test your smoke alarms monthly and practice your home fire escape plan until everyone can escape in less than two minutes.
If you or someone you know needs assistance after a home fire or local disaster, please call our dispatch line: (877) 597-0747. Home fires are the most frequent disaster and claim seven lives every day in the U.S. Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of death in a home fire by 50 percent.
Download the Red Cross Emergency app for detailed home fire prevention and safety tips. Visit redcross.org/apps or search “American Red Cross” in app stores to download the app, which is compatible with Apple Watch and Android wearable devices.
SOUND THE ALARM CAMPAIGN The Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters every year and most of them are home fires. To help prevent fire-related deaths and injuries, the Red Cross launched the Home Fire Campaign with community partners in 2014 to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries. To date, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is credited with saving more than 1,583 lives in the U.S.
The Red Cross is rallying volunteers to install free smoke alarms across the Illinois region throughout March, as part of our Sound the Alarm events. During these events, volunteers install free smoke alarms, create escape plans and share fire safety information.
Join us for a rewarding day of giving back and making our community safer from home fires. Visit redcross.org/ILSoundtheAlarm to sign up as a volunteer for our upcoming events on Saturday, March 11 in Chatham and in Round Lake and Joliet on Saturday, March 18.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.