By: Angela Ezell

It started early on October 5 in the Northside neighborhood in Fort Worth, where the American Red Cross North Texas Region worked with its partners, including the Salvation Army and the Fort Worth Fire Department, to install smoke alarms and provide fire safety plans. Through October, Red Crossers also sounded the alarm in Burleson and DeSoto to raise awareness of home fire safety.

Red Cross volunteers installed more than 400 smoke alarms during these Sound the Alarm events in Dallas-Fort Worth, making more than 700 people in 150 homes safer.

“Home fires claim seven lives a day in the U.S.,” American Red Cross DFW Metro West Executive Director Adolph Aguirre said during the Fort Worth event. “Today, our goal is to install free smoke alarms in the neighborhood, which can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.”

Sound the Alarm is part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, an initiative that equips homes with free smoke alarms. During Sound the Alarm events, Red Cross volunteers canvass a neighborhood, asking residents if they have smoke alarms. If they do not, the volunteers install smoke alarms in critical areas of the home for free.

In addition to receiving a smoke alarm, volunteers also help residents prepare an escape plan. The plan helps families know what to do and where to go if there is ever a fire in the home.

Smoke alarm recipients should test them monthly. By pressing the test button, residents should hear three beeps. If they don’t hear the beeps, it’s time to change the batteries. All smoke alarms 10 years old or older need to be replaced because the sensor becomes less sensitive over time.

In addition to testing smoke alarms monthly, families should practice a two-minute fire drill twice a year. The drill should include two ways to escape from the home and a meeting place once everyone is out of danger.

You can find information about fire prevention and all upcoming smoke alarm installation events in your area by visiting https://redcross.org/sound-the-alarm.html.