Beaumont, Texas, January 12, 2016 — The American Red Cross of Southeast and Deep East Texas will be part of the American Red Cross nationwide effort to install almost 15,000 smoke alarms in homes across the country over the upcoming weekend surrounding the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK), Jr. Day of Service. The project is part of the ongoing Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. 

Although the national holiday is on January 16, more than 520 alarms will be installed throughout Port Arthur neighborhoods on January 12, 13 and 14 to honor the life of Doctor King. Volunteer partners from the Port Arthur Fire Department, City of Port Arthur, US Coast Guard, YMCA, BASF, Zachry Industrial and sports teams from Lamar State College will join the Red Cross to visit local area homes, install free smoke alarms where needed and offer critical home fire prevention safety tips to residents. If you are interested in supporting this effort as a volunteer, please see the details below: 

“The Red Cross responds to almost 66,000 disasters across the United States every year and most of these are home fires,” said Chester Jourdan, Executive Director, American Red Cross of South East and Deep East Texas. They are often devastating to those affected. We want to help save lives throughout the country, including in the Port Arthur community, by installing smoke alarms in homes that don’t have them and educating people about home fire safety.” 

131 LIVES SAVED The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, launched in October 2014, is a multi-year nationwide initiative to reduce deaths and injuries caused by home fires by 25 percent. Since the start of the campaign, the Red Cross and its partners have helped to save at least 131 lives and installed more than 619,000 smoke alarms in 8,400 cities and towns nationwide. Through programs like The Pillowcase Project, the campaign has also helped teach more than 657,000 young people about home fire preparedness and safety. 

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR EDITORS 

WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO? The Red Cross is asking every household in America to join us in taking two simple steps that can save lives - practice fire drills at home and check existing smoke alarms. 

The Red could not fulfill its crucial mission without the generous support of the American public. If someone would like to help, please consider making a donation today by visiting www.redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to your local chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. 

The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from corporate partners and the hundreds of local partner organizations and volunteers nationwide. Special thanks to Nationwide for generously supporting the Home Fire Campaign and Kidde for its generous donation of smoke alarms.