Last winter, a house fire near Doniphan, Missouri took the lives of a father and his two young daughters. It’s a tragedy that first responder Amanda Freant couldn't shake. Rather than let the grief settle, she turned it into action, launching a community-wide push to make sure every family in Ripley County has one simple, life-saving tool: a working smoke alarm.

Freant was among the first responders who answered the call to the fatal fire. The tragedy touched the entire community, where neighbors know one another and many first responders personally knew the family involved. The mother and her preteen son survived, but the loss of three family members left a lasting impact on everyone who responded.

The family had no smoke alarms in their home. Their dogs alerted them to the fire, but by the time they woke, flames had already spread rapidly through the house. Freant couldn't shake that detail. It led her to ask a simple question. How many other families in Ripley County might be living without smoke alarms?

Working with local fire departments and the American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas, Freant began searching for answers. Rather than waiting for residents to request smoke alarms, she decided to send forms home through local schools, asking families whether they had smoke alarms and whether they wanted free ones installed.

The response was overwhelming.

Nearly 90 households returned forms indicating they did not have smoke alarms and wanted assistance.

"When I tallied up the final number, it broke my heart and it scared me to death," Freant said. "There were close to 100 kids going to sleep every night that didn’t have a smoke alarm in their house."

The issue hit especially close to home. Freant admits that after moving into a new house shortly before the fatal fire, her own smoke alarms were still packed away in boxes.

"That could have been me. That could have been my house. That could have been anyone," she said. "It's just something you don't think of."

The American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas quickly joined her effort, working with Freant and community partners to develop a plan to install alarms throughout the county. The project expanded into a collaborative effort involving firefighters, EMS personnel and law enforcement officers.

On installation day, nearly 20 volunteers from multiple agencies prepared to fan out across Ripley County, visiting homes and installing smoke alarms free of charge. The alarms will provide families with an early warning during a fire, giving them valuable time to escape safely.

For Freant, the effort was about much more than installing devices.

"We're hoping that we can save lives but also save homes," she said.

The campaign is also personal for another reason. Freant reached out to the mother who survived the fatal fire, to let her know that her family's story was inspiring action throughout the community.

Freant hopes the initial smoke alarm installation project is only the first phase of a larger initiative throughout Ripley County.

"The whole mission is to make sure there is not a home in Ripley County that does not have a smoke detector," she said.