SAN ANTONIO – In a home fire, can your family safely escape in just two minutes?
It’s important to know this since home fires claim seven lives every day, according to the American Red Cross.
People may be shocked to know that the Red Cross responds to more than 62,000 disasters every year and that the vast majority of these are home fires.
Installing smoke alarms in your home can reduce your chances of dying in a home fire by half.
On Saturday, May 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the American Red Cross Serving Central and South Texas in partnership with the San Antonio Fire Department will fulfill requests to install free smoke alarms in San Antonio.
You can request for a Red Cross volunteer to call you and schedule an appointment here.
What can you expect?
A member of the San Antonio fire department and Red Cross volunteers will show up at your house to fulfill the request. The firemen will enter homes and install smoke alarms in the most appropriate rooms of your house.
Red Cross volunteers will remain on your doorstep to provide you with fire safety education and help you to build a fire escape plan.
Those who participate in this event will help to build a stronger more resilient community that is prepared to handle the most common disaster, home fires.
The goal of this event is to make 150 homes made safer here in San Antonio. In 2019, the Red Cross was able to install 976 smoke alarms in the Greater San Antonio area and 401 homes made safer. Like so many others, the impact of COVID-19 has changed the way the Red Cross is able to deliver on mission, but it has not stopped the non-profit from preparing and responding to disasters.
“While much of our lives have changed due to COVID-19, with the help of the American people, the American Red Cross continues to provide the same support we always have,” said a representative for the American Red Cross. “Our teams are doing everything we can to keep people safe and healthy during this pandemic.”
The American Red Cross encourages you to keep your family safe by taking two simple steps:
Step 1: Practice your two-minute escape drill.
Step 2: Test your smoke alarms monthly.
Together we can Sound the Alarm to prevent home fire tragedies.
Visit SoundTheAlarm.org and pledge to prepare your family against home fires today!
KSAT Community operates in partnership with University Health, Energy Transfer and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union.