The American Red Cross and UGI, in partnership with the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, Sounded the Alarm in the community surrounding the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum on North Fourth Street in Harrisburg during a Home Fire Campaign event on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. Roughly 24 Red Cross and UGI volunteers worked together to install free smoke alarms in houses throughout the neighborhood in an effort to reduce the number of home fire related deaths and injuries. The event also recognized UGI for their $100,000 commitment to the program and the impact that commitment has had in our local community.
“UGI is dedicated to the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to our customers and to the many communities we serve,” noted Keith Dorman, UGI Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs. “We are pleased to support, both financially and with our employee volunteers, the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign and their Sound the Alarm. Save a Life.events which focus on preventing home fires which take such a toll across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Started in October 2014, the Home Fire Campaign seeks to educate the community on the importance of home fire safety through a number of different initiatives, including Sound the Alarm. Save a Life. events that use Red Cross, corporate, and community volunteers to go door-to-door in targeted neighborhoods, where they install free smoke alarms and provide important fire safety education.
“When a home fire strikes, you have roughly two minutes to safely escape. Working smoke alarms and home fire escape plans dramatically increase your chances of making it out of a burning home,” stated Patricia Waldinger, American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania CEO. “We are very grateful to have UGI as a community partner for this program. Their generous donation enables us to provide potentially life-saving smoke alarms and fire safety education to a greater number of communities in this area.”
Waldinger accepted the donation from Dorman during a brief presentation that occurred prior to Red Cross and UGI volunteers heading into the neighborhood. Both Waldinger and Dorman emphasized during their remarks the importance of the partnership and its benefit to the community. Chief Enterline explained the impact this program has had in Harrisburg.
Waldinger commented, “The service provided by our volunteers during these Sound the Alarm events, and the partnership with UGI that helps to make them possible, no doubt will one day save the lives of people who have the misfortune of experiencing a home fire.”
