Help Red Cross install free smoke alarms in Idaho Falls homes
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Red Cross of Idaho and East Oregon will help keep families safe from home fires by installing free smoke alarms in Idaho Falls homes and is looking for volunteers to help.
On June 3, volunteers will go door-to-door in Idaho Falls neighborhoods, installing free alarms and educating families about fire safety. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and work done that day could help save lives. On average, people have just two minutes to escape their homes safely during a fire, and working smoke alarms can make all the difference.
“Every day, seven people lose their lives in home fires across the country – often because they don’t have working smoke alarms and a plan how to escape during a home fire,” said Dianne Brush, a Red Cross disaster responder in Pocatello. “You can help change that by raising your hand and giving families the tools they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”
Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster and account for the vast majority of Red Cross disaster responses each year. In 2022 alone, the Red Cross responded to more than 250 home fires in Idaho and East Oregon and helped meet 783 people’s most immediate needs following a fire by providing shelter, food, clothing and emotional support.
The Idaho Falls Sound the Alarm event is part of a nationwide Red Cross effort to install free smoke alarms in homes in cities across the country this spring. Through its Home Fire Campaign, the Red Cross and its volunteers have installed more than 2.5 million smoke alarms and saved more than 1,700 lives since 2014. Red Cross and its volunteers also will install free alarms in Nampa in June.
No experience is necessary to volunteer for this event, and training and lunch will be provided. Sign up to volunteer by visiting soundthealarm.org/idaho.
If you have questions about volunteering with Sound the Alarm or forming a volunteer team, call Dianne Brush at 208-705-6419.
Those interested in becoming a Red Cross volunteer disaster responder can visit redcross.org/volunteer to sign up or get more information.
