Lives Saved: Binghamton family escapes home fire days after Red Cross smoke alarm install

“If they hadn’t come, I couldn’t even imagine.”

For months, Cassandra Simmons had been prompted to install smoke alarms in the Binghamton home she shares with her husband, daughter and three grandchildren after a recent construction project.

“I had a hard time getting them where they needed to go and then I would see something else in the mail for the American Red Cross and so I thought let me give them a call.”

This past February a team of Red Cross volunteers as part of the Sound the Alarm Home Fire campaign visited Simmons’ home to install free smoke alarms throughout her home and provide lifesaving home fire safety education, including a two-minute escape plan in the event of a home fire.

“It brings me to tears every time. It was Thursday and then that Sunday, if we didn’t have the Red Cross come in here, I don’t think myself and my grandson would be here.”

That Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday. While her 8-year-old grandson was getting ready for a Super Bowl celebration, a fire broke out in the upstairs bathroom at the top of the stairs and adjacent to the children’s bedrooms.

“We’d already had a smoke alarm in the hallway, so when the man from the Red Cross put them up, he asked if we’d like one upstairs. When I asked ‘what would you do’ he said yes, because by the time the smoke reaches the alarm we already had, it might be too late to get out of the house,” Simmons explained.

Recounting that day, Simmons isn’t sure what made her ask the question of the Red Cross volunteer, but she is thankful she did.

“He was so right. If he hadn’t put that there, I wouldn’t have heard the smoke alarm until it was too late. There would have been no room for me to get down the stairs because the fire started along the back of the bathroom door. By the time that smoke would have reached downstairs, the upstairs would have been engulfed in flames.”

Simmons, her husband, grandson and 9-year-old granddaughter, who had been upstairs in her bedroom at the time of the fire, managed to safely escape the home and call 911. 

“I was scared, I was crying, I was cold,” Simmons explained. “We were standing outside and the Red Cross came and they were so nice. The gentleman from the Red Cross put a blanket around me. They gave us enough blankets for all of us, a care package with everything you can think of that you may need. They were just very kind. And they stayed in touch with us by calling us to make sure that we were OK and reaching out to the agencies that would be able to help us.”

Now four and a half months later, Simmons and her family are finally able to move back into the home they shared with a renewed appreciation for the little things, a greater desire to pay it forward and plans to help those in need, and some invaluable advice for all those Simmons encounters from here on out.

“Once it happens there’s no going back it’s too late,” Simmons said. “Everybody I know from now on will hear from me, ‘do you have a smoke alarm?’ Because if not, call this number. All it takes is a phone call.”

Since 2014, the Sound the Alarm Home Fire Safety campaign has helped to save lives and make homes safer locally and across the country. You can schedule your home fire safety visit, which includes the installation of free smoke alarms and home fire safety education including a two-minute escape plan year-round by clicking here.

Cortland Blood Donor Receives Pleasant Surprise as Peanuts™ Contest Winner

When Natalie Travis made plans to donate blood on April 28 at the Cortland (NY) Community blood drive, little did she know the surprise that was eventually in store. 

To be sure, the McGraw, NY resident likely knew of the Peanuts/Snoopy ™ t-shirt incentive for those who showed up to donate, and which had gone viral, but she was not aware of an even bigger incentive that was there as well. 

As part of a national promotion, and thanks to the generosity of Peanuts Worldwide – one of the many partners who offer incentives to support Red Cross blood donations – Natalie emerged as the winner of  the Red Cross’  2023 Sonoma County Trip Giveaway. All who came to give blood in April were automatically entered for a chance to win a three-night trip for two to Sonoma County, California. The Getaway includes flights, hotel, $1,000 gift card and special tours of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Snoopy’s Home Ice, courtesy of Peanuts Worldwide. Natalie and her family departed for their trip on July 5.

Any national contest means that the odds of winning are long, so it is somewhat fitting that Natalie won since her blood type is also rare.  In fact, the desire to know her blood type is what drove her to be a blood donor as a young adult.

"I started giving blood when I was 17,” she said. “I always wanted to know my blood type and I knew if I gave blood I would find out.  I found out that I was type AB-, which is really rare.”

When she found out she had a blood type that was in high demand, Natalie made it a point to be a regular donor.

“I tried to do it a couple of times a year until I had my son.  He’s five now, so it had been that many years until I donated again.”

That April donation in Cortland was the first since her son was born, and it turned out to be a mutually beneficial return….especially when she found out she won the Sonoma trip.

“At first I was really shocked because I was only going to give blood (not knowing about the promotion). Then I started having regular communication with Adam (Adam Turner, a Red Cross staffer) and thought it was really cool.  I told my son, and he was really excited because he has never flown before, and he likes anything with motors.”

So, what would Natalie say to anyone who has not considered donating blood, or might be nervous about the prospect of doing so?

“Any experience that I’ve had, I find the people collecting blood to be really good at what they do. It doesn’t take very long and your blood could help a lot of people.”