Red Cross to conduct home fire safety visits during campaign

We want to really ensure that across the nation that we are decreasing the number of home fatalities by 25% over the next five years.

Teams of Red Cross volunteers, local firefighters, and volunteers from Clemson University’s Gamma Gamma Sorority and JPS Composite Materials will go door-to-door, meet with families to test and install smoke alarms, and help them create a home fire escape plan. “We can certainly prevent people from dying in them”, said the Red Cross Southeast Mississippi Chapter director John McFarland.

Lithium battery alarms, which last 10 years without changing batteries, were to be installed in the basement and on each of the home’s floors. The event, however, proceded when Red Cross employee Geoffrey Domowicz offered to drive to Bradford from Erie early Monday with the needed smoke alarm equipment. Across New Jersey, thousands of volunteers are part of the Red Cross.

Disaster Program Manager Kendra Pospychalla said volunteers get great experience dealing with diverse disaster situations. He says that smoke alarm is the reason they are alive today.

“The first thing is we’re hoping someone’s home so we can educate them and make them knowledgeable about the fire hazards that can be lurking in their homes”, Hays said. “Martin Luther King Jr.is a mentor and inspiration to me”, Ferguson said.

The American Red Cross hopes to distribute one thousand alarms throughout communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.