The American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign will visit Binghamton on Saturday, March 25 starting at 10 a.m.to install smoke alarms in homes that need them and teach people about what they can do now to be prepared should a fire break out in their home.
The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign aims to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next few years. The Red Cross partners with fire departments and community groups across the country to install smoke alarms in communities with high numbers of fires and encourage everyone to practice their fire escape plans. Joining the Red Cross here will be Auchinachie Services.
“Installing smoke alarms cuts the risk of someone dying from a home fire in half, so we’re joining with groups from across our community to install smoke alarms,” said Colleen McCabe, Executive Director of the Southern Tier Chapter. “We’re also teaching people how to be safe from home fire.”
SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVE LIVES Even as the Red Cross and other groups install smoke alarms in some neighborhoods, they are calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: create and practice their home fire escape plan and check their smoke alarms.
There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:
If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.
If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them.
Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
Practice that plan. What’s the household’s escape time?
For more information on the Home Fire Campaign, visit http://www.redcross.org/local/new-york/western-central-new-york/homefires