Regional CEO Corner with Joel R. Sullivan - October 2014

Saving Lives With Home Fire Campaign

Home fires are the greatest disaster threat to American families. Seven times a day, someone dies in a home fire. Every 40 minutes, an injury from a fire is reported.

The American Red Cross home fire campaign is working across the country and here in Tennessee to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from home fires. The campaign aims to reduce these numbers by as much as 25 percent over the next five years. Along with installing smoke alarms, the Red Cross is joining with fire departments and community groups nationwide to canvass neighborhoods and teach people across the Nation about fire safety.

Your Red Cross volunteer teams have recently begun going door-to-door to install smoke alarms and complete home-safety checklists and plans in several Tennessee neighborhoods including ones in Camden, Clarksville, Kingsport, Knoxville and Memphis.  They will canvass Nashville in January. The service isn’t just for residents in these neighborhoods. Anyone who needs a smoke alarm can call the Red Cross for information on how to receive a free smoke alarm.

The Red Cross fire prevention campaign comes at a time when a new national survey shows many Americans have a false sense of security about surviving a fire.  The survey, conducted for the Red Cross, shows that people mistakenly believe they have more time than they really do to escape a burning home. Fire experts agree that people have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home. But most Americans (62 percent) mistakenly believe they have at least five minutes to escape, more than twice the amount they actually have.

You have the ability to ensure your home is safe and your family is ready to respond in case a fire does occur.  Cold weather is quickly approaching and we usually see an increase in home fires as various heating sources are started.  Please take the time to verify you do have smoke detectors in proper locations and test them regularly. Ensure you and your family know what to do when a fire does occur. 

The life you save may be your own! 

The national public opinion survey was conducted for the Red Cross July 17-20, 2014 using ORC International’s Online CARAVAN omnibus survey. The study was conducted among a national sample of 1,130 American adults, including 311 parents of children aged 3-17. The total sample is balanced to be representative of the US adult population in terms of age, sex, geographic region, race and education. The margin of error for the total sample of 1,130 adults is +/- 2.92 percent. The margin of error for the sample of 311 parents is +/- 5.56 percent.