Through the work of our dedicated American Red Cross volunteers and partners, we have now saved more than 2,000 lives through our Home Fire Campaign. More than one-third of those are children.
Home fires are this country’s deadliest and most frequent type of disaster. Seven people in the U.S. lose their lives to a fire in their home every day.
Because of these tragic statistics, the Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign to reduce home fire- related deaths and injuries. Since its start in 2014, the campaign is credited with helping save 2,002 lives as of the end of November, 2023.
As part of the Home Fire Campaign, the Red Cross works with local partners to install free smoke alarms and share fire safety information with families. Through the support of our community partners and dedicated volunteers, the campaign has installed 2.7 million smoke alarms and helped to make 1.1 million homes safer.
Long before the launch of the national home fire campaign, the Northern Ohio Region was installing smoke alarms in homes locally. The effort began in the city of Cleveland in 1992, when businessperson and philanthropist Sam Miller joined with other civic leaders, the Cleveland Fire Department, and the Red Cross to reduce fire fatalities through installing smoke alarms and teaching fire safety.
More than 225,000 smoke alarms have been installed by the Red Cross and its partners in Northern Ohio, and 21 of the 2,002 lives that have been saved were in this region.
The holiday season is upon us and for some, decorations are already trimming their homes. While December is known as the most wonderful time of the year, it’s also the peak time for home fires.
The American Red Cross has put together some simple safety tips to help protect your home and family.
Opt for battery-operated candles. If you do use candles, never leave burning candles unattended and keep them away from anything that can burn. Make sure to keep candles out of reach of children and pets.
Inspect all holiday light cords to make sure they aren’t broken or frayed. Avoid stringing too many strands of lights together. You should not have more than three light strings per extension cord.
Make sure all outdoor decorations are made for outdoor use. Fasten lights securely to your home, trees and bushes. If you’re using any metal fasteners, like hooks or nails, make sure they are insulated to help prevent electrocution or fire hazard.
If you have anartificial tree or garland, check for a fire-resistant label. Keep them away from fireplaces, radiators and other sources of heat. Never use electric lights on metallic trees.
If you plan to get a live tree, test its needles to make sure it is fresh. Bend the needles on the tree up and down to make sure no needles fall off. Make sure to water the tree regularly to prevent it from drying out.
Don’t hang stockings or decorations on the mantel if you plan to light the fireplace.
Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside each sleeping area. Test your alarms once a month and replace the batteries at least once per year. Additionally, you should practice your two-minute fire safety plan with everyone in your household.
If you cannot afford smoke alarms or aren’t physically able to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. You can request a smoke alarm from the Northern Ohio Region of the Red Cross here.
When people think of the American Red Cross responding to disasters, they often imagine the aftermath of a massive hurricane or deadly tornado. Trees uprooted and tossed aside, homes with missing roofs or destroyed by floodwaters. But it’s not the large-scale disasters that keep Red Cross volunteers busy day in and day out. Home fires are the most frequent disaster in the country, claiming seven lives every day in the U.S. In Northern Ohio, the Red Cross responds to more than three home fires, on average, every 24 hours.
As part of the national Sound the Alarm campaign, Red Cross staff, volunteers and community partners set aside specific weeks throughout the year to focus on educating residents about home fire safety and installing free smoke alarms where they are needed. From April 22 to May 12 staff and volunteers in northern Ohio, in partnership with local fire departments, held Sound the Alarm events in 11 communities across the region. They included:
Sandusky
Uhrichsville
Cleveland
Medina
Hubbard
Warrensville
Toledo
Findlay
Henry County
Newcomerstown
Willoughby Hills
During these events, volunteers met with local families to install free smoke alarms, helped them create a two-minute fire escape plan and shared safety information on home fires and other local disaster risks. In Northern Ohio, more than 600 homes were made safer, with over 1,500 smoke alarms installed.
For those who do have smoke alarms, the Red Cross recommends testing smoke alarms each month and practicing your escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes. It’s also important to teach children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do in an emergency.
While certain weeks of the year are designated as Sound the Alarm events, the Red Cross is working every day to help prepare communities for disasters like home fires. If you or someone you know needs smoke alarms, visit the Sound the Alarm page to find out how to request an appointment with one of our teams. You can partner with the Red Cross and donate to this lifesaving work. Without the financial support of generous donors, the Sound the Alarm campaign would not be possible.
Check out more photos from our Sound the Alarm events on Flickr. Thank you to everyone who joined us this year and we look forward to seeing you all again soon at a Sound the Alarm event near you!
Since October 2014, the campaign has saved at least 17 lives in Northern Ohio
The American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with the support of community partners has achieved its goal of installing 2.5 million free smoke alarms and making 1 million households safer across the country.
Since launching in October 2014, the campaign has saved at least 1,583 lives nationwide — including 17 people in Northern Ohio — from the threat of home fires, which claim seven lives every day in the U.S. Most often, these tragedies occur in homes without working smoke alarms.
“We are proud of our incredible work with community partners to help save lives by providing free smoke alarms in Northern Ohio as part of the national Home Fire Campaign,” said John Gareis, Regional Preparedness Manager. “And we take special pride in knowing that the smoke alarm program we started more than 30 years ago in Cleveland served as a model for the current Red Cross Home Fire Campaign.” Watch a video of the history of the Home Fire Campaign in Cleveland.
In Northern Ohio since the start of the Home Fire Campaign in 2014, Red Cross volunteers and partners have: Installed more than 100,000 free smoke alarms Made 37,400 households safer Educated more than 31,000 children through youth preparedness programs
FREE HOME FIRE SERVICES TO CONTINUE Because home fires remain a daily threat and the campaign has made a lifesaving difference, the Red Cross will be continuing the program with community partners as part of its standard services, including Sound the Alarm events in communities throughout the region this spring to install free smoke alarms.
Visit soundthealarm.org/noh for a home fire safety visit if you need assistance, or to volunteer. No prior experience is needed. Training will be provided before volunteer teams visit area homes to install smoke alarms and share fire safety information. During the Sound the Alarm appointments, volunteers will install free smoke alarms, and will share information on the causes of home fires, how to prevent them, what to do if a fire starts and how to create an escape plan.
In addition, the campaign’s other services will continue, such as teaching children about the threat of home fires and what to do through youth preparedness programs, installing accessible fire safety equipment like bedshaker alarms and strobe light smoke alarms for residents who are deaf or hard of hearing, and providing home fire safety resources in American Sign Language.
Home fires account for most of the more than 60,000 disasters that the Red Cross responds to annually in the Northern Ohio Region and across the country. So far in 2023, Red Cross volunteers have helped nearly 400 people affected by nearly 200 home fires in the Northern Ohio Region by providing emergency lodging, financial assistance for urgent needs like food and clothing, and one-on-one recovery support for navigating next steps and connecting with community resources.
ONE HOME FIRE SURVIVOR’S STORY: Akron grandfather Shawn Spaulding had just returned home after a long day at work when fire broke out in his home. Read about his escape here.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED Help save lives through the campaign by becoming a volunteer or making a financial donation to prepare, respond and help families recover from home fires. Learn more at redcross.org/noh.
You can also help your family by testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing your two-minute home fire escape plan. Additional safety tips are available at redcross.org/fire and on the free Red Cross Emergency app (search “American Red Cross” in mobile app stores).
Posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer
Neighborhood where family perished in home fire made safer
Dozens of residents in Newcomerstown, Ohio are safer in their homes, after Red Cross and community volunteers banded together on Saturday to install free smoke alarms and share home fire safety information.
The effort targeted the neighborhood where six people died – four children and their parents – in a fire on the day after Christmas. Investigators found no evidence of smoke alarms in the home.
Newcomerstown Mayor Patrick Cadle and five village council members gathered with about two dozen Red Cross volunteers, some coming from as far away as Cleveland, for a brief training session prior to splitting into teams of three or four and going door to door on several streets in the neighborhood.
Newcomerstown Mayor Patrick Cadle
“I was unaware that the Red Cross did this,” said Mayor Cadle, referring to the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which includes making homes safer with the installation of free smoke alarms.
“If I had known they didn’t have smoke alarms I would have contacted you for them,” said Kitty Clay, who lives on Spaulding Avenue, next door to the home that burned. She said she and other neighbors were outside for several hours, watching firefighters battle the blaze. “There was nothing we could do,” she said.
Village Councilmember Michael Wise shares home fire safety information with Spaulding Avenue resident Kitty Clay
Village Council member Michael Wise was on the team that inspected Kitty’s home on Saturday. He made sure there was a working smoke alarm on every level of the home. It was one of 52 homes made safer that day, as 136 smoke alarms were installed.
“We’re not stopping there,” said Tim O’Toole, Regional Disaster Officer for the Red Cross of Northern Ohio. “We plan to come back in April, when we include Newcomerstown as part of our Sound the Alarm event,” he said. Sound the Alarm is an annual campaign that targets neighborhoods at high risk for home fires nationwide for home fire safety visits and smoke alarm installations.
“This is just the beginning,” said Elizabeth Cante, Disaster Program Specialist with the Heartland, Stark and Muskingum Lakes Chapter. “We will also be helping students at the elementary school whose classmates lost their friends with preparedness education. Our job has only just begun.”
See more photos from the day of service in Newcomerstown here.
Visit soundthealarm.org/noh for more information on how to make your home safer, and to request free smoke alarms.
Northern Ohio has had their share of prominent African Americans: Olympian Jesse Owens, author Toni Morrison, US Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, inventor of the modern traffic light Garrett Morgan, and first black mayor of a major U.S. city Carl B Stokes. But, closest to the hearts of Northern Ohio Red Crosser’s is none other than our own Steve Bullock.
Steve Delano Bullock was the youngest of 22 children born to a sharecropper family in segregated North Carolina. He was in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in 1962 when he first volunteered with the Red Cross. He found a fit in the organization that upholds impartiality – not discriminating based on nationality, race, religion, class or political beliefs – as one of its fundamental principles.
– Steve Bullock, Photo credit: Daniel Cima/American Red Cross
Steve began his career with the organization in 1962, working as a caseworker on military installations. His work took him and his family to military posts throughout the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Twenty years later, he became the Chief Executive Officer and Chapter Manager of the Greater Cleveland Chapter.
In Cleveland, he oversaw the launch of Operation Save-A-Life, which aimed to reduce injuries and deaths due to home fires by providing residents in at-risk neighborhoods with fire safety education and free smoke alarms and installations. That initiative has been adopted by the Red Cross nationwide and, as of the end of 2021, more than 2.2 million alarms have been installed and more than 1,200 lives have been saved.
– Northern Ohio Sound the Alarm installation event
Steve Bullock’s career with the American Red Cross spanned six decades. During that time, he has been one of the hundreds of thousands of volunteers and paid staff striving to help Americans and people around the world prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
But there’s one thing no other Red Crosser will ever be able to claim: Steve was the first African American to sit at the helm of our nation’s premier humanitarian organization, when he was named Acting President of the national agency in Washington, DC.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a more inspiring role model than Steve,” says Mike Parks, Regional CEO of the Red Cross in Northern Ohio. “It’s no wonder our humanitarian award is named in his honor. He has lived a life of service to mankind.”
Thank you, Steve Bullock, for your years of service to our military members, their families, and our mission.
If you feel a call to serve as Steve did, the Red Cross has a veritable wealth of opportunities for your talents. Start your journey here.
This Sunday marks the end of Daylight Saving Time for 2021, meaning we will “fall back” one hour. As you turn back your clocks this weekend, the American Red Cross asks everyone to also test their smoke alarms.
Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster and tragically take seven lives every day in this country. Individuals may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late. An early warning from a working smoke alarm, plus a fire escape plan that has been practiced regularly, can save lives.
“It’s critical to take action now to be as safe as possible as the threat of home fires increases with the holidays and cooler weather,” said Mike Parks, Regional CEO, American Red Cross of Northern Ohio. “In fiscal year 2021, Red Cross volunteers in our region responded to more than 1,100 home fires. The good news is that you can take a few simple steps this weekend to help protect your loved ones.”
Follow these simple tests to get your home ready:
Test all existing smoke alarms, and make a plan to check them monthly.
Check to make sure you have smoke alarms installed on every level of your home, including inside and outside of bedrooms and sleeping areas.
Replace any smoke alarms that are 10 years old or older. Components such as sensors can become less sensitive over time. Follow your alarm’s manufacturer instructions.
Practice your two-minute home fire escape plan. Make sure everyone in your household can get out in less than two minutes. Include at least two ways to get out of every room and select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone can meet.
Red Cross Home Fire Campaign
Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with community partners has saved at least 1,048 lives by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing more than 2.2 million free smoke alarms in high-risk homes across the country.
For more information, including safety tips and free resources, visit redcross.org/homefires or download the free Red Cross Emergency app by searching for ‘American Red Cross’ in app stores.
James Mays lives alone in a roomy house in Cleveland, and is extra cautious about preventing a home fire. “I’m pretty spooked out about it,” he said on the morning before Halloween, as American Red Cross volunteers Brittany Tucker and Walter Reddick installed new smoke alarms in his home.
Red Cross volunteers Walter Reddick and Brittany Tucker install a smoke alarm
James said he’s experienced two fires in his life. “You have to really be watchful,” he said.
James’ home was one of 22 made safer on October 30, 2021, as six Red Cross volunteers, three staff members and two Cleveland firefighters visited homes in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood. All were observing safety measures to protect themselves, each other and the residents they visited by wearing face coverings and being socially distanced when possible.
Red Cross volunteer Brittany Tucker and Cleveland resident James Mays
“I saw it on TV,” said Carolyn Lee, referring to a message urging people to test their alarms when they turn back their clocks to end daylight saving time on November 7. It prompted Carolyn, who has nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren to call the Cleveland Division of Fire, which works closely with the Red Cross to install alarms and share home fire safety information with residents who make an appointment.
Carolyn’s son Treyfus Lee was visiting when the Red Cross arrived. The U.S. Army veteran grew up in the house and said the alarms hadn’t been changed in “quite a while.” He was told smoke alarm sensors have a 10-year life span, and that all alarms should be tested monthly.
Treyfus Lee, left and his mother Carolyn Lee
It was a timely message, delivered a week before the time change, and a reminder to all residents: when you turn back your clocks, test your smoke alarms.
To make an appointment for a home fire safety visit and to have free smoke alarms installed in your home, visit our website. Residents of Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula Counties can also call 216-361-5535. Residents of Summit, Mahoning, Trumbull, Medina, Portage and Columbiana counties can call 330-535-2030. In Stark, Wayne, Ashland, Carroll, Holmes, Harrison and Tuscarawas Counties, residents can call 330-453-0146. In Erie, Hancock, Huron, Lorain, Putnam, Seneca, and Wyandot Counties, residents can call 419-422-9322. In Lucas, Fulton, Henry, Ottawa, Sandusky, Wood, and Monroe County, Michigan, residents can call 419-329-2900.
Photos by Dave Eadelis, American Red Cross volunteer. For more photos, visit our Flickr album.
October 2021 Home Fire Campaign kicks off in Painesville and Perry Twp.
By Tim Poe, American Red Cross volunteer
A team comprised of Spanish-language interpreters from HOLA Ohio joined members of the Painesville Fire Department and staff and volunteers from the American Red Cross Northern Ohio region on Saturday, October 9, to provide fire safety education and install 62 smoke alarms in 25 homes in Painesville and Perry, Ohio.
The Home Fire Campaign launched nationwide in October 2014 and has roots in Northern Ohio. In 1992, businessperson/philanthropist Sam Miller and other civic leaders partnered with the Red Cross and Cleveland Fire Department to find ways to reduce fire fatalities.
The efforts have been effective. In the past seven years, the campaign has saved 1,048 lives, installed more than 2.2 million smoke alarms, made 948,535 homes safer, and reached 1,698,165 youth. Yet the efforts must continue. According to FEMA, Ohio has had 97 fire fatalities reported in the media so far this year, and on average, seven people die and 36 are injured in the US each day as a result of home fires.
Tom Revolinsky, Disaster Program Manager of the Red Cross’s Northern Ohio Region said, “As part of Hispanic Heritage Month and Fire Prevention Week, the Red Cross, HOLA, and the Painesville Fire Department have five bilingual teams installing smoke alarms in 25 homes throughout the Painesville/ Perry Area. Fire safety education is the most important part of the installation event, as awareness helps prevent fires. Having bilingual volunteers ensure the message is properly communicated is key to making homes safer.”
Tom added, “Smoke alarms are the second line of defense in a fire when prevention measures fail. Education, smoke alarms, and an escape plan are all components.”
Veronica Isabel Dahlberg, Executive Director, HOLA Ohio, said, “We are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Painesville Fire Department, the Red Cross, and the volunteers for such an important cause that not only brings our community together, but will also save lives.”
Chief Thomas C. Hummel Jr. said, “The Painesville City Fire Department is very happy that we are able to partner with the Red Cross and HOLA to provide smoke detectors in our community. We not only installed smoke detectors, we provided valuable fire safety education and offered answers to questions, thanks in a large part to our HOLA volunteers, who assisted with translation. We look forward to continuing this partnership. Any resident who needs a smoke detector installed can contact our office at 440-392-5848 or 5849 during normal business hours to schedule an installation time with our fire department.”
Participants follow COVID-19 safety protocols. Smoke alarm installations are by appointment and participating Red Cross personnel must be vaccinated, wear masks, practice social distancing, and limit time in homes, among other precautions. Partner organization participants must also adhere to Red Cross guidelines.
For more information on the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, fire safety tips, or to request a smoke alarm, please visit this site. A Spanish-language version is available here.
Visit our photo album for more pictures from the smoke alarm installation event.
Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, and we all know what that means: Turn the clocks ahead one hour and check every smoke alarm in the house.
That first activity isn’t necessarily fun. Who wants to lose an hour of sleep?
But the second – checking your smoke alarms – is vital! It’s a key part of keeping your family safe from one of the most common disasters, a home fire. In fact, in a typical year, the death toll from home fires is higher than the toll from all natural disasters combined.
Most of us don’t realize we have just two minutes to escape a home fire. That’s why the American Red Cross is preparing families to act quickly through our annual Home Fire Campaign.
If you think home fires only happen to “somebody else,” think again.
“In just one year, the Red Cross was called to help nearly 4,300 people who were driven from their homes by fires in northern Ohio,” said Tim O’Toole, who heads up disaster response for the Red Cross in over 31 northern Ohio counties. And that doesn’t count those who didn’t need Red Cross assistance.
You can help keep your family safe by taking two simple steps:
Think through and practice a two-minute home escape plan with your family. (Don’t forget your pets!)
Test your smoke alarms every month. (No, it’s not enough to test them a couple of times a year.)
To create a worthwhile home fire escape plan, include at least two ways to get out of every room (doors, windows) and then practice it until every member of your family, old and young, can do it in two minutes or less. Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what to do in an emergency. (Don’t hide! And don’t assume it’s a false alarm.)
Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.
In addition to testing all alarms monthly, change the batteries once a year (if your models use batteries). Check the date on the alarms; if they’re more than 10 years old, they need to be replaced as the sensors get less sensitive over time.
In 2014, the Red Cross began its Home Fire Campaign to join with fire departments and other safety-minded organizations across the country to cut fire-related deaths and injuries by 25%.
Since then, we’ve installed more than 2.1 million free smoke alarms, reached more than 1.6 million children with preparedness programs and made nearly 900,000 households safer with safety education. Most importantly, we’ve documented more than 800 lives saved.
Please do your part, for your family and your community: Make a plan, check your smoke alarms. Visit soundthealarm.org for more information or to get involved.
Edited by Glenda Bogar, American Red Cross volunteer
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