Tag Archives: Smoke Detector

Fire Prevention Week: Making Northern Ohio communities safer

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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.  

Volunteers installing a smoke alarm in an Akron, Ohio resident’s home during a May 2025 Sound the Alarm event

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. 

Protecting what matters most in Northern Ohio

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October 8 – 14 is National Fire Prevention Week

By Doug Bardwell, American Red Cross volunteer

Unless you live near a fire station, you might be surprised by how many fires occur in
Northern Ohio. Where we live in Strongsville, you can usually detect that single
siren driving down Royalton Road as an EMS ambulance. But, if you hear multiple
sirens and the sound of large diesel engines, you know the entire squad is responding
to yet another fire – and they are usually home fires.

The Red Cross works with local fire departments to help prevent home fires

The most common home fires are caused by cooking. Every year, firefighters respond
to more than 170,000 kitchen fires, causing hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries
and more than $1 billion in damages each year.

Since 2015, would you believe the American Red Cross in Northern Ohio has
responded to more than 11,000 home fires, and assisted nearly 17,000 families?
Despite insurance or Red Cross financial assistance, think of the inconvenience of
being displaced for weeks or months before your home is habitable again after a fire.

Damage caused by fire to a home in East Cleveland in 2022

There’s a better way

Following these simple tips, you and your family can help prevent kitchen fires:

  1. Use a timer to remind yourself that the stove or oven is on.
  2. Keep anything that can catch fire — potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils,
    paper or plastic bags, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your
    stove, oven or any other appliance in the kitchen that generates heat.
  3. Always check the kitchen before going to bed or leaving the home to make
    sure all stoves, ovens, and small appliances are turned off.
  4. Install a smoke alarm near your kitchen, on each level of your home, near
    sleeping areas, and inside and outside bedrooms if you sleep with doors closed. Use the test button to check it each month. Replace all batteries at least once a year if your smoke alarm requires it.
  5. Tap here for another half dozen sensible tips to avoid kitchen fires.
A Red Cross volunteer installs a smoke alarm in a home in Cleveland, with guidance from a firefighter

Smoke alarms are crucial in saving lives

The Northern Ohio region of Red Cross has been installing free smoke alarms for those who need them since 1992. To date, more than 200,000 alarms have been
installed.

Nationally, the Red Cross and partners, through the Home Fire Campaign, have installed 2.6 million alarms in more than 1.1 million households since 2014.

Do they really make that much difference?

Verifiably – yes, they do. As of August 31, 1,928 lives nationwide were documented as
saved due to work done by the Red Cross and partners through the Home Fire
Campaign.

For five more ways you can help the Red Cross continue this valuable practice in Northern Ohio communities, tap here.

If you’d like trained Red Cross volunteers to offer you valuable home fire safety
information to help YOU prevent a fire in your home – and/or to install smoke alarms in
your home, tap here.

Posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer

Are you prepared for a home fire? Test yourself

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Did you realize that, on average, the Red Cross of Northeast Ohio responds to 2.5 home fires every night? While one piece of our mission is to help families displaced by these and other disasters, many households can help themselves by becoming more aware of how to reduce their chances of experiencing a fire.

2014 Katie with Fire VICTIM

In fact, the Red Cross and its local and national partners have launched the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, an initiative that aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by home fires by 25% in five years.

Test yourself with this handy quiz to determine what you have covered, and what you and your family may need to work on.

The Red Cross is asking every household in America to join us in taking two simple steps that can save lives: checking or installing smoke alarms and practicing fire drills at home.