Press release
Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a home fire. Countless others suffer injuries. To combat these tragic statistics, the American Red Cross has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent over the next five years. The American Red Cross North Central Ohio Chapter will soon be going door to door in a Crawford County community as part of its Home Fire Preparedness Campaign to teach people how to be prepared for home fires and install smoke alarms where needed.
The Home Fire Preparedness Campaign is happening all over the country and involves Red Cross workers joining with local fire departments and community groups to visit neighborhoods at high risk for fires. Those visits include educating people about fire safety through door-to-door visits and installation of smoke alarms in some of these neighborhoods.
Team of Red Cross volunteers, local fire fighters and community partner volunteers will be going door to door in the Sunset Springs RV Resort in Oceola today to install smoke alarms in campers and mobile homes that need them, replace batteries in working smoke alarms and teach people about what to do in case a fire breaks out. This effort is part of Project Prepare, a two-year initiative of the American Red Cross to train half-a-million Ohioans how to be better prepared for disasters and emergencies. Local sponsors of the campaign include Timken Company and Bob Evans restaurant in Bucyrus.
“Installing smoke alarms cuts the risk of someone dying from a home fire in half, so we’re joining with groups from across our community to install smoke alarms,” said Todd James, Executive Director of the North Central Ohio Chapter “We also will be teaching people how to be safe from home fire.”
On August 16, a fire destroyed an RV at Sunset Springs. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. Brian and Cassie Bittinger, owners of Sunsent Springs, say the fire showed them the importance of having working smoke alarms in campers and mobile homes. “We are excited to partner with the American Red Cross to offer this Home Fire Preparedness initiative in the hopes we can help avoid any future incidents. A safe and family-friendly camping environment is our highest priority and this opportunity affords us a tangible way to express that to our customers. It is an incredible program and we are blessed to partner in this endeavor.”
Simple Steps to Save Lives
The Red Cross is asking everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: check their existing smoke alarms and practice fire drills at home,
There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:
• If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.
• If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them.
• Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
• Practice that plan. What’s the household’s escape time?
The Red Cross responds to nearly 70,000 disasters each year in the United States and the vast majority of those are home fires. You can help people affected by disasters like home fires and countless other crises by making a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. The American Red Cross of Crawford County is a United Way Agency.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/marion, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/RedCrossNCOhio or follow us on Twitter at @RedCrossNCO