The Central Ohio Chapter of the American Red Cross is partnering with Columbia Gas for an upcoming Sound the Alarm event where Red Cross teams and community partners will install free smoke alarms and provide home fire safety education to families in Hilltop homes. The event, on July 11, is part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which helps reduce home fire deaths and injuries through disaster preparedness education, fire safety, instruction, and free smoke alarm installations.

“Through partnerships with Columbia Gas and other community organizations, we can reach more households with free smoke alarms and lifesaving fire safety education” said Karen Washbush, Executive Director of the Central Ohio Chapter of the American Red Cross. “Community mobilization efforts like these are critical to helping families stay safe from home fires.”

Participants will meet in the morning for registration and training before going door-to-door through the late morning and into the afternoon to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and provide home fire safety information.

“Home fires are the most frequent disasters we respond to,” Washbush said. “A working smoke alarm can cut the risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half, making these installations one of the simplest and most effective ways to help keep families safe.”

Since the Home Fire Campaign’s inception in 2014, more than 45,000 families in Central & Southern Ohio have been made safer by the installation of more than 103,000 free smoke alarms in our region.

The Home Fire Campaign is made possible in part through the generosity of our corporate donors, including:

Columbia Gas

State Farm

AEP Ohio

AES Ohio Foundation

PNC Charitable Trust Cincinnati

NetJets, Inc.

You don’t have to live in the Columbus area to have free smoke alarms installed, call your local fire department to set up an installation appointment.