The Red Cross Marks Fire Prevention Week with Tips on How to Safely Escape a Home Fire

October 02, 2025

Fire Prevention Week is the oldest U.S. Public health observance on record. For over a century, this observance has worked to educate Americans about the risk of home fires as well as about how to minimize them. It was inspired by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On the 40^th anniversary of the event, the Fire Marshals Association of North America sponsored the first National Fire Prevention Day. In 1922, this one-day observance was expanded to Fire Prevention Week.

During this year’s Fire Prevention Week (October 5-11), the American Red Cross wants to remind everyone of the dangers of home fires, which claim seven lives every day in the U.S. In fact, home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined. To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms each month and practice your escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes.

Red Cross volunteers showing a smoke alarm to a resident in their kitchen.

Home fires can happen at any time. The sooner an alarm alerts you to fire, the sooner you can get out. This is important because fire experts say you may have less than two minutes to safely escape a burning home.

Tips for creating your home fire escape plan and practicing your 2-minute drill:

Everyone in your household should know two ways to escape from each room in your home.
Smoke is dangerous. Get low and go!
Decide where to meet once you get outside. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as a neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
Get out and stay out. Never go back inside for people, pets or things.
If a fire starts, you may have less than two minutes to get to safety. Time your fire drill and find out: what’s your escape time?
While practicing your escape plan, teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

Smoke alarm safety:

Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.
In addition to testing your alarms once a month, change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
Also check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they need to be replaced because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

how to check your smoke alarm graphic with three steps. 1, press the "test" button. 2, listen for 3 beeps to indicate it's working. 3, check the date to see if it's less than 10 years old.

red cross volunteer holding a power drill, installing a smoke alarm on a ceiling.

Red Cross Home Fire Campaign saves lives:

Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, working with community partners, has saved at least 2,489 lives by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country. To sign up for a free alarm and learn more about the campaign, visit redcross.org/homefires.

Causes of Fires:

The best way to be safe is to avoid fire dangers. Cooking remains the number one cause of home fires, followed by heating your home. See how you can prevent home fires by following safety tips HERE.

This year, the National Fire Protection Association is focused on the safety of lithium batteries. Everyone enjoys the modern tools and toys powered by Lithium-Ion batteries. It is important that everyone learns how to responsibly and safely buy, charge and dispose/recycle them. These tips can be found HERE.