Volunteers, partners make families safer with Sound the Alarm events
More than 1,500 people in Northern Ohio can sleep more peacefully, knowing that if a fire occurs in their home, they’ll be warned by working smoke alarms installed by the American Red Cross, its volunteers, and its partners.
Having working smoke alarms reduces the risk of serious injury or death due to home fire by half. That’s why each spring, the Red Cross of Northern Ohio embarks on the Sound the Alarm Initiative, a three-week effort to install smoke alarms and share vital home fire safety information with residents in vulnerable neighborhoods.
This year, Sound the Alarm events began on April 20th and continued through May 4th. During that time, 1,846 free smoke alarms were installed in homes throughout the region, making 719 homes and the 1,530 people who live in them safer.
“Sound the Alarm is a signature event, not only in the Northern Ohio Region, but throughout the country,” said Mike Parks, Regional CEO. “It’s baked into the DNA of the Red Cross mission, which is to prevent and alleviate human suffering.”
The effort to install smoke alarms and teach residents how to prevent home fires and create escape plans for their families began in Cleveland in 1992, in partnership with the Cleveland Division of Fire. The program became the Home Fire Campaign when it was rolled out nationwide by the Red Cross in 2014.
Sound the Alarm is an integral part of the Home Fire Campaign.
“We could not install the number of smoke alarms, or make as many homes and families safer without the help of volunteers,” said Emily Probst, Regional Disaster Officer for the Red Cross of Northern Ohio. “This year, more than 300 volunteers donated over 1,000 hours to help more than a dozen communities become more resilient.”
The alarms are installed at no charge to residents – but they are not free to the Red Cross. Donors and sponsors help defray the cost of the alarms.
“The generosity of our donors and the support of our sponsors make our lifesaving mission possible,” said Michelle Polinko, Regional Chief Development Officer. “We are so fortunate to have so many people who are dedicated to the mission of the Red Cross, and who want to help save lives.”
This year, Sound the Alarm sponsors included Buckeye Broadband, Enbridge, First Energy, Goodyear and Westfield.
To date, 2,117 lives have been saved across the country, thanks to the efforts of Red Cross volunteers, partners and supporters who have visited homes across the country, installing smoke alarms and making families safer.
While the Sound the Alarm initiative runs each spring, residents can request smoke alarms for their homes any time by visiting soundthealarm.org/noh.
Sound the Alarm events were held in Cleveland, Lorain, Akron, Canton, Massillon, Toledo, Tiffin, Austintown, East Palestine, Orrville, and Monroe, Michigan.
See more photos of many of the Sound the Alarm Events in our photo albums here.