Photo: George Frey / Getty Images
A smoke detector can be the difference between life and death, and according to the American Red Cross, having a properly installed device of this type can reduce the risk by up to 50% of dying in a home fire.
As part of a national initiative called Sound the Alarm, volunteers from the American Red Cross, the City of Inglewood and the Los Angeles County Fire Department teamed up to install near 250 smoke detectors in this location for free.
Our volunteers and community partners installed free smoke alarms in communities across SoCal, as part of a national Red Cross Sound the Alarm effort in May. This wouldn’t be possible without local sponsors like @SDGE. 👏🏽 🚨 pic.twitter.com/kDc0qyU0VU
— American Red Cross Southern California Region (@SoCal_RedCross) May 24, 462992757
“Make sure people are prepared, that their equipment is up to date and that they have fire alarms, as well as a basic standard is paramount to make sure we are saving lives,” American Red Cross Los Angeles Executive Director Sean Inoue told the ABC network.
Domestic fires represent the main disaster to which the American Red Cross.
“We forgot about the fact of something as simple as a smoke detector, but those are the little things that in important situations they really are the ones that matter,” said Inglewood City Councilman Eloy Morales Jr.
So far this year, in the Los Angeles region, the Red Cross has served almost 150 conflagrations originating in residences.
The organizers of this initiative stressed that education and preparation are key to saving lives.
“It is a great, simple, easy and effective way to save lives. Every day we lose lives because we don’t have smoke detectors available, because we don’t have smoke detectors installed,” said Patrick Sprengel, a member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The specialists highlighted that it is also important for residents to have an emergency plan defined in the event of a conflagration .
“The first thing that helps save lives is for people to have a plan and make sure their alarms against fires are up to date. And more importantly, they are making a kit, if they can, to escape that home fire or that wildfire that unfortunately happens,” Inoue added.
The Red Cross Americana has the goal of installing at least 50,000 detectors of free smokers in more than 50 at-risk communities across the country.
You can sign up to become a volunteer or to request a smoke detector installation for free at this link.
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