By: Frederic Klein

Home fires are the most frequent disaster in the United States, claiming seven lives every day — most often in homes without working smoke alarms. This daunting statistic is at the heart of the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign (HFC), an initiative that has resulted in more than 2.5 million free smoke alarms being installed in more than 1 million U.S. households (and counting). More importantly, since the campaign’s inception in 2014, more than 2,000 lives have been saved.

The HFC is powered by Red Cross volunteers, typically a team of three: a driver, an educator, and an installer. In New York, the Red Cross also partners with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the FDNY Foundation as well as community partners who help get the word out about the program.

On a sunny Monday afternoon where the only air conditioning needed was an open window, a team of volunteers set out in a fully equipped Red Cross vehicle to install free smoke alarms at a half-dozen homes in the Bronx where residents had signed up for appointments. Jonathan Liles, an installer doing his second shift as a volunteer with the campaign, was teamed with Mary Cueva, an educator who is an experienced HFC volunteer through the AmeriCorps program.

"I realized I hadn’t volunteered since high school,” Jonathan said. “Especially after I graduated [from NYU this past spring], I wanted to have that feeling and I wanted to get back into it. I heard about the Home Fire Campaign, and I applied. I wanted to see as much as I could of the city.”

Mary was impressed with how quickly Jonathan became comfortable with the skills needed for the job.

“Everyone is different,” she said. “Some people like to observe each individual activity: the installer, the educator, and the driver. But Jonathan jumped right in. The first day, we were working with Anthony, another lead, and he was like ‘Jonathan, you’re a pro with the drill already.’ On the first day! So, it’s nice to see that young people are getting it done and making people’s homes safer.”

At the first home, Jonathan and Mary found that there were already smoke alarms installed in the rooms where the resident wanted them. Jonathan tested the existing alarms to make sure they were working, while Mary explained that it is best to have smoke alarms in every room where somebody sleeps. She also shared basic fire safety tips: Test your alarms every month, plan an escape route that can be managed in 2 minutes or less, and prepare a “go bag” with important items like medication and food in case of emergencies.

As the installation route continued, meandering through the streets of Morris Heights into University Heights, Mary and Jonathan stopped to install a smoke alarm at the home of a stroke survivor with two aging dogs and family members who occasionally stay over. After about 15 minutes, Jonathan had installed four new smoke alarms, one in each bedroom and another adjacent to the kitchen, and Mary had reviewed the fire safety tips with the resident.

“Make sure you include pet food in your ‘go bag,’” Mary reminded her.

The woman smiled. “I’m getting these dogs out of here before I go myself,” she joked.

Afterward, the HFC team got back in the car and continued its “tour de Bronx,” ascending a tree-lined Sedgwick Avenue before cutting through Marble Hill and heading up to Riverdale. There, Jonathan installed a pair of smoke alarms in a one-bedroom apartment across from Ewen Park. The resident wasn’t home, but her nephew — who didn’t speak English — was. Although Mary needed some assistance from cell-phone translation software to explain in Italian that the alarm emits two distinct sounds (three beeps for a fire and four beeps for carbon monoxide), the resident understood the information and the team continued on its way.

Ladder packed safely back in the car, backpack reloaded with new smoke alarms, Jonathan and Mary continued climbing Riverdale Avenue before stopping just shy of the Yonkers-Bronx border. The final appointment of the day had been made by a resident who was away at work, but fortunately her mother was there, babysitting the two young children who share the apartment. Jonathan installed new smoke alarms in each of the three bedrooms as well as the living room, which was adjacent to the kitchen. Mary explained that it is best practice to install a smoke alarm not in the kitchen itself but in an adjacent area. That way, normal cooking activity doesn’t inadvertently trigger the alarm on a regular basis.

Finished with their route, Jonathan and Mary headed back to the Greater New York headquarters in midtown Manhattan and reflected on their accomplishments: 10 smoke alarms installed and four households educated about fire safety, after two households were unavailable when the team arrived. Both were enthusiastic about encouraging others to volunteer for the Home Fire Campaign.

"If you like to explore, see new people, and see things that you would otherwise never see, I will say that this is something that you would love to do,” Jonathan said.

Mary had a bold message for potential volunteers, especially young people.

"Just do it,” she said. “It’s better to think ‘I did it and I didn’t like it’ than to wonder what it could have been. I think one of the best conversations I overheard of young college kids — we have a few interns and college students in the Home Fire Campaign program — was [with a girl who said] ‘I’m bored, I don’t have anything to do, I think I’m just going to go install smoke alarms and makes home safer.’

“Doing something good for you, doing something good for other people, I think it helps me be better and it helps me sleep better at night.”

The Home Fire Campaign is looking for reliable people who are comfortable in diverse environments with one to two days availability per month. The current volunteer needs are greatest for drivers (must be comfortable driving vehicles in New York City traffic) and installers (should be comfortable using a power drill and able to climb ladders). Training is provided; drivers must have a valid driver’s license and pass a driver history background check. For more information, contact recruitmentgny@redcross.org.