By Eilene E. Guy, American Red Cross volunteer 

Full confession: More than once in my life, I’ve walked into the kitchen and found my teakettle boiled dry, glowing red hot on the stove. I’d neglected to turn the burner off before I left the room.  A-a-a-a-ck! 

Lucky for me, I took action before my kitchen caught fire. But every year, more than 330,000 homes across America are hit by fires – some minor and some devastating – according to the National Fire Protection Association. 

In northern Ohio alone, the American Red Cross responded to nearly 1,050 home fires between June 30, 2024, and July 1 of this year. Those alarms involved more than 4,600 people. Tragically, 25 adults and 11 children lost their lives. 

Nobody should become that kind of a statistic.  

As we slide toward the colder months, National Fire Prevention Week is a good time to review common sense prevention tips: 

• Be sure anything that gets hot, like a portable heater, is at least three feet from furniture or curtains. 

• Do not smoke in bed or on the sofa or stuffed furniture. 

• Never leave candles unattended. 

• Don’t leave the kitchen with pots, pans, skillets or teakettles on the stove, like I did! 

• Keep matches and lighters out of reach of youngsters and teach them not to play with fire. 

• Test smoke alarms monthly and practice a home escape plan twice a year. 

• Identify devices in your home that have lithium-ion batteries: cell phones, laptops, tablets, eReaders, game controllers, digital cameras and tools, among other things. Learn how to buy, charge, store and recycle them safely.  

Red Cross volunteers are ready to respond to home fires and other emergencies 24/7, but we’re also active with our home fire campaign year-round. It’s a life-and-death mission to cut that 330,000 fires number as “low as you can go.” (Remember limbo?) And to cut the fire-related deaths number to zero! 

Fire safety experts have four solid recommendations: 

• Have smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. 

• Test smoke alarms every month and if they’re not working, change the batteries. If your alarm is more than 10 years old, replace it; smoke detection elements only last 10 years. 

• Talk with all family members about at least two ways to get out of the home in case of a fire, and practice that escape at least twice a year. Remember, you have just two minutes to get out of your home in case of fire. 

• If a fire does occur, Get Out, Stay Out, and Call for Help! Be sure all children in the home know those important actions. No stop, drop and roll; no hiding from the alarm; no going back inside for a pet or a favorite toy. GET OUT, STAY OUT and CALL FOR HELP! 

The Red Cross home fire campaign, which we call Sound The Alarm, pulls together volunteers, fire departments and local partners to go door-to-door to install free smoke alarms and to help residents draw up fire escape plans for their home.  

In fiscal 2025, that campaign made some 9,200 residents of northern Ohio safer. Meanwhile, volunteers presented our Prepare with Pedro home fire safety programs to more than 3,800 children.  

And this is saving lives! Since Sound The Alarm began at the national level 11 years ago, we’ve confirmed 2,489 lives have been saved specifically by our alarms and safety plans nationwide. Some 31% of those lives saved were children and teens under the age of 18. 

All services provided by the Red Cross are free, made possible by the generosity of the American people. If you’d like to volunteer your time, take a class or make a financial donation to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to an emergency – from a home fire to a medical emergency to a natural disaster – please go to www.redcross.org.