American Red Cross to visit Milton Mar. 4

Nationwide campaign aims to reduce the number of home fire deaths, injuries

The American Red Cross, Metro Massachusetts unit, will visit Milton, MA on Saturday, March 4, 2017 as part of its Home Fire Campaign to teach people how to be prepared for home fires and to install smoke alarms where needed.

Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a home fire. Countless others suffer injuries. To combat these tragic statistics, the Red Cross has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent. The Home Fire 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 installing smoke alarms. To date the Massachusetts program has been to over 2,500 homes in 200 cities and towns. Nationwide, over 500,000 alarms have been installed in 50 states.

The Red Cross will install free photoelectric smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in Milton residences on Saturday, March 4 starting at 9 a.m. Volunteers will also teach residents how to prevent a home fire and how to prepare to respond in the event a fire starts in their home. This event will be conducted by the Massachusetts Red Cross Metro Boston Home Fire Campaign task force with the support of the Milton Fire Department.

If you are a Milton homeowner and would like the Red Cross to install a free photoelectric smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, please call the Red Cross Metro Home Fire Campaign registration service at 800-746-3511.

Simple Steps to Save Lives:

There are several things people can do to protect themselves and their loved ones from home fires. They include:

• Installing smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Test them every month and replace the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
• Developing a home fire escape plan with all members of the household and practicing it several times a year, at different times of the day.Include two ways to get out of every room and consider escape ladders for sleeping areas or homes on the second floor or above.
  • Pick a place outside for everyone to meet and make sure everyone knows where it is.
  • The Red Cross responds to nearly 66,000 disasters each year in the United States and the vast majority of those are home fires. For more information, visit redcross.org/homefires, or download the Emergency App at redcross.org/apps.

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 or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.