CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Providing effective ways to help prevent house fires was the focus at the Kanawha County Courthouse Wednesday. The regional American Red Cross joined forces with the Kanawha County Commission and local firefighters to kick off Sound the Alarm, Save a Life.
It’s a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about house fires and the need to have working smoke alarms in the home. According to the Red Cross, house fires claim up to seven lives everyday.
Red Cross Regional CEO, Erica Mani, said in many cases, it’s a disaster which could have been prevented with an up-to-date smoke detector.
“It’s extremely important, in fact, people don’t realize that home fires are the most common disaster across the country and right here in our area, and if you have working smoke alarms, it cuts your risk of death in half,” said Mani.
An annual initiative that has been around since 2014, the Red Cross’s aim is to install 50,000 smoke alarms across the country through the Sound the Alarm campaign events.
Mani said that thousands have already been installed in the 77-county region which she serves, and that they are making their way up to 50,000 alarm installations in Central Appalachia alone. She also said that a total of 110 lives have been saved and verified because the Red Cross and its partners were able to respond to the alarm.
However, Mani said that they couldn’t fulfill such a mission without the various teams of help by their side.
“We couldn’t do this work without both, the generosity of donors and the power of volunteers, through not only our own volunteer base but so many fire departments, and organizations, emergency management, and so many of them are able to be in this room with us today and we are excited to thank them and kick this off so that people pay attention,” she said.
This year’s signature donors for the smoke alarms include Kanawha County Commission, American Electric Power Company, as well as others.
The smoke alarm installations were to take place Wednesday afternoon in apartment buildings on the East End and Kanawha City. Red Cross will also be holding other events in Kanawha County throughout the campaign.
While the organization installs smoke alarms in homes that need them throughout the year, Mani said that they take advantage of the opportunity to have the campaign during this time of year when the weather gets nicer and they can work more effectively.
“At this time of the year, we are constantly making sure that as the weather gets a little better we can put boots on the ground and go door-to-door and make sure homes are safer in our area,” Mani said.
If people need a new smoke alarm in their home and don’t have the means to buy one, they can visit the Red Cross on their website or call a local Red Cross headquarters to obtain one. People can also visit Sound the Alarm to learn more about the annual campaign.