Red Crossers Visited Communities Across Kentucky to Help #EndHomeFires for Sound the Alarm

A Red Crosser installs a smoke alarm
in a home in Madisonville, KY

This November, our Red Crossers visited communities across the Kentucky Region to make homes safer before the winter season by providing fire safety education and installing free smoke alarms in homes that needed them as part of our Sound the Alarm campaign. Thanks to the work of our volunteers and partners, we are proud to announce that we:

• Made 480 homes safer across Kentucky
• Installed more than 1,250 smoke alarms in homes that needed them
• Provided fire safety education to more than 1,200 of our neighbors

We are so thankful for the partners and supporters who made this possible! It is thanks to the efforts of our community that we could achieve our mission. Special thanks to Lexington Fire Department for their ongoing support of our Sound the Alarm campaign for the past several years.

Red Crossers prepare for a day of installing
smoke alarms in Eastern Kentucky

We would like to thank the following community partners for their help as we work to #endhomefires:

Western Kentucky Chapter

• Ohio Co. Fire Assoc.
• Ballard Co. FD
• Calloway FD
• Cuba FD
• Salem FD
• Goreville FD
• Alton Fire Department

South Central Kentucky Chapter:

• Franklin Simpson FD
• Glasgow FD

Bluegrass Area Chapter

• Corbin City FD
• Georgetown FD
• London City FD
• Madison Co. FD
• Nicholasville FD
• Shopville FD/Pongo FD
• Scott Co. FD
• Swiss Colony FD
• Winchester FD
• Woodford FD

Eastern Kentucky Chapter

• Cumberland City FD
• Harlan City FD
• Lynch FD
• Middlesboro FD
• Bath Co. FD
• Hazel Green FD
• Hazard City FD
• Lewis Co. EMA
• Menifee Co EMA
• Morehead City FD
• Benham FD
• Coon Creek FD

Louisville Area Chapter

• Pleasure Ridge Park FD
• Franklin Co. FD
• Simpsonville FD

Smoke Alarms and Fire Safety Education Help Save Family of Nine

The Jackson-Perry Family

Every day, seven people die in home fires. The Red Cross wants to prevent these needless tragedies – that’s why we launched our Home Fire Campaign in 2014. As part of this campaign, volunteers work alongside fire departments and other local groups, canvassing at-risk neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, educate families about fire prevention and safety, and fundraise to help sponsor this life-saving mission.

One Louisville family of nine is a testament to the importance of our campaign. Two years ago, on a warm afternoon in late April, the Perry family was enjoying the spring weather outside on their front porch while their grandson napped in their basement. Their family time was interrupted by the harsh sound of their new smoke alarms sounding from inside the house.

Alerted by the alarms, the Perrys noticed smoke coming from the basement, and were able to quickly get their grandson out of the house. Once they were away from the house and gathered at their designated meeting spot, they called 911. Later, they would learn that an electrical fire had started in their basement.

Just weeks before, on April 8, Red Cross and General Electric volunteers in Louisville had visited the Perrys as a part of the Mayor’s Give a Day week of service. Bonnie Perry recalls seeing Red Cross volunteers canvassing her neighborhood that day and inviting them in to install alarms in her home.

“[The volunteer] said, ‘Oh, we’re installing smoke detectors. Do you need some?’ and I said ‘I sure do!’” Mrs. Perry said. “They put one in each bedroom and in the hallway, and thank God they were installed.”

The volunteers also spoke to the Perrys about home fire safety, and helped the family come up with an escape plan. Mrs. Perry stated that the fire escape plan was the reason her family got out safely. She also credited the early warning of the smoke alarms for giving them enough time to get her grandson out of the house and call the fire department before the fire spread to the rest of their home.

”Without the Red Cross, two, three, maybe five of us wouldn’t have been here.” Mrs. Perry said. “We were so blessed that everyone got out safely. The Lord must have sent the American Red Cross to install these alarms.”

Over 550 lives have been saved in the United States since the start of our Home Fire Campaign, including 57 lives in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Learn how you can get involved by visiting soundthealarm.org

Bluegrass Area Chapter Sounds the Alarm about Fire Safety

Written by: Barry Bronson, Bluegrass Area Chapter

Nearly 200 Red Cross volunteers handed out smoke alarms and helped educate Lexington residents on fire safety Saturday, all part of the Red Cross Sound the Alarm campaign.

It was all hands on deck Saturday as volunteers received marching orders for the
Lexington Sound the Alarm campaign for the Red Cross. 

One volunteer team heard what many of the volunteers and fire fighters would hear in the course of the busy day.

“I’ve lived in this house for 17 years and have never known if the smoke alarms were working or not,” said Ms. June Jones when volunteers installed two smoke alarms in her northside home. 

The team visiting Ms. Jones included Manny Mora, Kevin Lum, Rosie Gray and team captain Kathy Hoff. Ms. Hoff has been a Red Cross volunteers for 49 years!

Kevin Lum and Manny Mora help install a smoke alarm Saturday.

Volunteer Manny Mora installed an alarm along with Kevin Lum.

Learn more about our Sound the Alarm campaign at soundthealarm.com/kentucky.