On Martin Luther King Day, a group of about 45 Red Cross workers and volunteers spent a day of service installing free smoke detectors. The Sound the Alarm event started out at the Iglesia Ni Cristo Church on Paul Street in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia.

The Red Cross teams braved cold temperatures to canvas the neighborhood, searching for people who wanted to make their homes safer in the event of a fire. 168 people in 71 homes were helped through smoke alarms and fire safety education. Volunteers installed 194 smoke alarms in just a few hours.

Philadelphia resident Shiannda Little was excited to have Red Cross volunteers install new smoke alarms in her house. Fire destroyed her last home when the one smoke detector didn’t work. Shiannda says the house “went up in minutes,” and if her daughter and a friend hadn’t smelled smoke the family may not have survived. They lost everything.

“We just had the clothes on our back and my neighbors’ shoes. We had nothing.”

Shiannda had praise for the Red Cross volunteers who made sure to test out her new smoke alarms after installing them.

“You all are out here giving back to the community trying to help out to make sure that you can save some lives, some houses, especially around this time of the year, where fires are just outrageous.”

Daphne Hanford installed the smoke detectors in Shiannda’s house. With a background in chemical engineering, Daphne has been volunteering for the Red Cross for about two years.

As part of the Disaster Action Team, she has seen firsthand the damage left behind from a home fire. She spent her birthday volunteering to install smoke alarms because “it feels good to give folks things that they need in case they have an emergency.”

Resident Destiny Mills almost had an emergency in her home a few months ago. That’s when she and her family woke to the sound of a loud bang around 4 a.m. A fire down the street caused an explosion. She saw flashes of light from the flames, and it scared her.

“I was like maybe we should leave! Let’s get the kids. We should leave!”

Destiny said the new smoke alarms installed by Red Cross volunteers make her feel a lot safer because her main worry is not getting her kids out of the house in time in a fire.

Philadelphia resident Desmond Childs says he worries about keeping his daughter safe in a fire. “I have a 2-year-old and my cat, so I worry about that a lot.”

Desmond says he recently left a pot of water boiling on the stove and forgot about it.

Fortunately, he remembered in time, but the incident left him shaken.

“I realized that could have been a different situation,” he said.

Desmond had deep gratitude for the new smoke alarms installed by the Red Cross. “Thank you all. I appreciate you.”

Callum Bhatti is one of the volunteers who helped install smoke alarms in Desmond’s home. He is a freshman at Drexel University and is originally from the Bahamas.

Callum was excited to participate in his first volunteer assignment with the Red Cross.

“It feels awesome. I mean just coming out here helping others. I feel like more people should do it. If everyone did this then I think the world would be a lot better place.”

Employees from Clarke & Cohen Property Loss Consultants joined Red Cross volunteers in helping make homes safer Monday. It was the fifth time they participated in a Sound the Alarm event over the past year.

Rich Cohen is president of the 103-year-old, third generation family business.

“Partnering with the Red Cross is a really good fit for us. As public insurance adjusters, we see people after a fire has already happened. Sound the Alarm gives our team an opportunity to get in there ahead of time and help people prepare,” he said.

Rich was at the event with two of his sons and nephew, as well as several employees. “It gives us the opportunity to do this work together,” he said. Clarke & Cohen, along with the Wawa Foundation and PECO, was a regional sponsor of our Sound the Alarm program in 2023.

If you cannot afford to purchase smoke alarms or are physically unable to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. Visit soundthealarm.org/philly or call 215-299-4029 for more information.

Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, working with community partners, has saved at least 2,022 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 learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires. 

PHOTO: American Red Cross volunteers pose for a group photo before breaking up into groups to install smoke alarms. Photo by Dianne Heard/American Red Cross

- Written by Jenny Farley