The American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Region wrapped up its 2025 Sound the Alarm initiative – part of the year-round Home Fire Campaign – with a signature event in South Philadelphia on May 2, 2025.

Meeting at the Murphy Recreation Center on Shunk Street, teams of Red Cross volunteers and staff worked together with community partners and sponsors to Sound the Alarm. The event successfully helped people in more than 100 homes become safer with education about how dangerous fires can be and the installation of free smoke alarms.

Jennifer Graham, CEO of Red Cross SEPA, enthusiastically welcomed the large crowd on a beautiful hot day in the Whitman neighborhood.

“I’m excited to Sound the Alarm with you here in Philadelphia!”

Her greeting received loud cheers and applause.

“Today, we will install free smoke alarms — which can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half. By the time we leave their homes, residents should know how to prevent home fires and how to get out and stay out if one does occur,” she said.

Philadelphia 1st District Council Member Mark Squilla spoke to the crowd before going out with a team to help install smoke alarms. He thanked the Red Cross and said he was impressed by how many volunteers showed up to help out. One volunteer shared a moving story the Council Member, which he shared with the crowd.

“The volunteer told me they had a smoke alarm installed in their home and the reason why they’re a volunteer today to give back is because they actually had a fire and the smoke alarm went off and they were able to get out of their home.” He explained that “their lives were saved.”

Philadelphia Fire Department Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson also thanked the crowd for coming out and the Red Cross for always being there whenever there is a need.

“They are our partners through good times and bad and today is a really good time because today we are leaning into fire safety by installing smoke alarms.”

Dominick Mireles, the director of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, spoke about the importance of smoke alarms and encouraged people to test their alarms to make sure they are working, something the Red Cross teams do when they go door to door to install them.

“Smoke alarms as you heard are often the difference helping loved ones and their pets get out of a home fire alive.” He said smoke alarms are part of home readiness and help give “the women and men of the fire department a chance to stop that fire.”

Drew Davis is a board member for the Red Cross Philadelphia Chapter and is the director of distribution system operations at PECO, an event sponsor. He was amazed by the size of the crowd.

“I see a group of heroes out there.” He said, “I’m specifically talking about the great men and women of the Philadelphia Fire Department. They put themselves in harm’s way so we can be safe. They’re running in while we’re running out. It takes a hero to do that so thank you so much.”

“Also, the volunteers. Wow, what a turnout today!” he added.

Christopher Robold was one of those Red Cross volunteers who trained his four-person team on how to install the free smoke alarms before going door to door in the South Philly neighborhood.

Chris retired two years ago after teaching high school chemistry for 33 years, and he loves volunteering for the Red Cross.

“I’m a people person and I enjoy talking to people and making people’s houses safer,” he said.

Kareem Ali works as a lineman for PECO. Kareem had a special reason for volunteering with Chris and the team at his first Sound the Alarm event.

“This is something that means a lot to me. I lost a family member in a fire before, so this is very near and dear to my heart.”

Kareem helped install smoke alarms for people like Valerie Reaves. Valerie has lived in Philadelphia for 60 years and said there was recently a fire on her neighborhood block.

“I woke up and I heard sirens,” she said.

Valerie used to work in a daycare and was one of the people responsible for mapping out escape routes for the staff and kids in case of fire. She was grateful to the Red Cross team who installed the smoke alarms in her grandson’s home and said it made her feel safer.

“That’s a beautiful thing,” she said.

Red Crosser Melissa Knox is the supplies supervisor for the kitting department in Biomedical Services and has worked for the Red Cross for 13 years. It was her first time volunteering at Sound the Alarm too.

“It’s very nice. I didn’t know what to expect. I was overwhelmed with the amount of volunteers that are here.”

One of Melissa’s jobs while working with Chris, Kareem and Red Cross volunteer Eden Laroque, was to talk to residents about how to escape their home during a fire, and to keep track of how many smoke alarms were installed in each home.

“This gets me out and talking to people and doing good with the company that I love working for,” she said.

According to Red Cross Disaster Preparedness Manager Ryan Gaul, Red Cross teams installed 412 smoke alarms for 440 people during the May 2 Sound the Alarm event while also delivering critical fire safety information to 128 households.

“We also greatly appreciate our colleagues from the Red Cross Blood Services team who join us regularly for these events.” Ryan said during the May 2nd event, “More than 150 participants contributed over 1,200 volunteer hours.”

In addition to the signature event in South Philadelphia, the Red Cross held Sound the Alarm events in Upper Darby and West Philadelphia. Altogether, the Red Cross installed 1,173 smoke alarms, making 364 homes safer during the month-long initiative. More than 235 Red Crossers and community volunteers participated.

The 2025 Sound the Alarm events were made possible thanks to generous financial donations from regional partners: Clarke & Cohen Property Loss Consultants, Independence Blue Cross, Morgan Properties, PECO, an Exelon Company and The Wawa Foundation. National sponsors are FEMA and State Farm.

Wawa fed teams a wonderful breakfast before they headed out for the day to install smoke alarms and a delicious lunch when they returned from making homes safer.

John Poplawski is vice president of real estate and fuel for Wawa and is a Red Cross Philadelphia Chapter board member.

“Wawa has been a part of this from the very beginning,” he said. “On behalf of the Wawa Foundation, our 4,000 associates here in the city of Philadelphia and our 50,000 associates organization-wide, we just want to say thank you for being here to support this.”

If you need smoke alarms, the Red Cross may be able to help. You can submit a request on our website or call 215-299-4029. If you live in the City of Philadelphia, you can also call 3-1-1. To learn more or to get involved with Sound the Alarm or our Home Fire Campaign, visit SoundTheAlarm.org/Philly.

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- Written by Jenny Farley