"Smoke Detectors Save Lives"

I woke up this morning and saw this Tweet from WKBW-TV in Buffalo:

The story of a home fire is all too familiar. Volunteers Diane and Fred helped five people after that early morning fire on Ideal Street, hours after Diane and Nicole provided for the immediate emergency needs of one person after a fire on Best Street. Volunteers responded to three disasters in Syracuse overnight, and on Tuesday DAT members responded to separate fires in Olean, Jamestown and Ripley.

Here's what made this story a bit different: "A fire official told 7 Eyewitness News smoke detectors in the home were working and 'saved their lives'." 

The American Red Cross has launched a campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from fires by as much as 25% over the next five years. The Red Cross is calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: check their existing smoke alarms and practice fire drills at home.

Unfortunately, not every home has a working smoke detector. Seven times a day, someone in the United States dies in a fire. The Red Cross is joining with fire departments and community groups nationwide to install smoke alarms in communities with high numbers of fires.

For more information about how you or a loved one can have a free smoke alarm installed in your home, contact Individual and Community Preparedness Specialist Veronica Chiesi Brown. Together, we can help change the statistics and wake up to more success stories.

-Jay Bonafede, Regional Chief Communications Officer