Make your holiday decorating jolly this season with Red Cross safety steps

Contributing Writer: Briana Phillips, American Red Cross volunteer  

With the holiday season here, it is about time to make your annual to-do list to get everything ready for celebrating. This year, the Red Cross would like you to add house fire prevention steps to your list as you prepare for all your family festivities. 

 

Candles are very popular, especially around the holidays. But did you know that candles cause about 20 home fires a day on average in the U.S.? 

  

December is the peak month for home candle fires. If you are decorating with candles this holiday season, consider using the battery-operated kind. If you must use candles, keep them away from anything that could burn, and place them out of reach of pets and children. Never leave burning candles unattended. 

 

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, nearly 47,000 fires occur during the winter holidays claiming more than 500 lives. These deadly fires can all be caused by improper candle use, cooking and baking mishaps, and faulty holiday decor. 

  

The American Red Cross offers these additional steps you can take to deck your halls safely: 

• •Check all holiday light cords to ensure they are not frayed or broken. Do not string too many strands of lights together — no more than three per extension cord.  
  
  

• •Turn off all holiday lights when going to bed or leaving the house. 
  
  

• •Ensure outside decorations are for outdoor use and fasten lights securely to your home or trees. If using hooks or nails outside, make sure they are insulated to avoid an electrocution or fire hazard.
   

• •If buying an artificial tree, look for the fire-resistant label. When putting it up, keep it away from fireplaces, radiators, and other sources of heat. Never use electric lights on metallic trees. 
  
  

• •If you are getting a live tree, make sure it is fresh and keep it watered. To test if the tree is fresh, bend the needles up and down to make sure no needles fall off.  
  
  

• •Do not light the fireplace if you are hanging stockings or other decorations on the mantel. 
  
  

• •Check the labels of older decorations. Some older tinsel is lead-based. If using angel hair, wear gloves to avoid irritation. Avoid breathing in artificial snow. 
  
  

• •If you are using a ladder, be extra careful. Make sure to have good, stable placement and wear shoes that allow for good traction.  

 

You can also help keep your family safe by testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing your home fire escape plan until everyone can escape in two minutes or less. Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including an escape plan to practice with your family. You can also download our free Emergency app (search “American Red Cross” in app stores). 

Local Blood Drives and Donors Make a Difference with the American Red Cross

David Pilkinton, dedicated blood donor

Story and Photos by Marvin Koch, American Red Cross volunteer 

It all starts with a simple gesture of wanting to give back to your community. Just ask David Pilkinton, Kyle Piccirilli, and Robin Romero-Mullins. 

 

These three all have at least two things in common: they were blood donors (among many others) at a recent American Red Cross blood drive at the Brentwood Public Library and they all share a concern for the people and community around them. 

 

“Giving blood is a quick and easy way to help someone in need,” said Romero-Mullins, a law-practice administrator and part-time Yoga instructor. This donation marked her third donated pint of blood at a Red Cross blood drive. “As someone who’s been involved in health and fitness all my life, and as an O negative donor, I’m a much-needed candidate to give blood.” O negative is the most common blood type used for transfusions when the blood type of a patient is unknown. This is why it is used most often in cases of trauma, emergency, surgery, and any situation where blood type is unknown.  

 

Pilkinton has long been a dedicated donor. This visit would mark his 59^th pint. “Any physically eligible person who’s never donated blood, might want to think about it because some previous blood donor might save their life someday,” he said. Pilkinton is Vice President of Development for Business Technology Inc., a company that produces software for the broadcasting industry.   

Kyle Piccirilli

Piccirilli just started donating, but is almost a one-gallon donor. “Giving blood to the Red Cross is beneficial to the entire community, and it’s a charitable thing to do,” he added. ”It is a nice gift to someone in need.” Piccirilli is a respiratory therapist and has given both platelets and whole blood to the American Red Cross. 
 
The Brentwood Library has been hosting weekly blood drives for the Red Cross and, in 2020, collected more than 6,000 pints of blood for area and regional hospitals. For more information on blood donation, or to schedule a blood donation at the Brentwood Library, go to RedCrossBlood.org and use the sponsor code: cityofbrentwood.  

Help is needed now more than ever to combat critical blood shortage across the country and right here at home. You can find out more about how you can make a difference at RedCrossBlood.org, or by volunteering at RedCross.org/Tennessee. 

 

Nashville Woman Thankful for Red Cross Smoke Alarm that Saved Her Life

Ophia McCray credits the American Red Cross with saving her life after having a smoke alarm installed in her Nashville home.

By Mariwyn Evans, American Red Cross volunteer 

When Ophia McCray heard a loud boom followed by her smoke alarm one warm Sunday morning, she knew something was wrong. Hurrying to the front of her house on Ewing Avenue in Nashville, McCray saw smoke billowing from the basement door. A lightning storm that morning had struck a tree in a neighbor’s yard. The blaze jumped underground to her house, where it spread quickly throughout the building. 

 

McCray quickly returned to her bedroom, where she’d been getting ready for church, to get her key for the security door. However, in that short amount of time, her front door became impassable from the heat and smoke of the fire. 

 

McCray retreated and was just able to crawl out of a small bathroom window with the help of a neighbor and his daughter before the fire went through the roof. “With God’s help, they broke the double-paned window and got me out,” says McCray. 

 

McCray credits the smoke alarm, which had been installed for free by American Red Cross volunteers through the Home Fire Campaign program, with giving her time to escape. She’d learned about the program at her church. “A husband and wife came out to install the detectors.” McCray recalls. “They were very professional.” Since the inception of the national Home Fire Campaign, 1,148 lives have been saved by smoke alarm installations. Of those lives saved, 32 percent (373) are children under 18.  
 

When the smoke cleared, and the fire extinguished, McCray’s house, where she had lived for over 20 years, was a total loss. Once again, the Red Cross was on hand to help. “They got me new glasses and helped me refill my medications,” she says. “They also called me during the three days I was in the hospital and periodically afterwards.”  

 

Today, McCray is in the slow process of rebuilding her home. “It’s taking a long time to obtain various permits from the city,” she says. “Lumber and construction materials are also so hard to get.” 

 

One item she won’t do without is a smoke alarm. “Everybody should get one installed.  It will help save you.” 

 

To find out how you can volunteer, or to find out more about the Home Fire Campaign program that is available throughout Tennessee at all area chapters, go to RedCross.org/Tennessee.  

Red Cross offers 10 Thanksgiving cooking safety tips

More home cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day; extra precautions needed for ongoing COVID-19 pandemic 

Contributing Writer: Janae' Daniels, Red Cross volunteer

As Thanksgiving approaches, it’s a time to prepare the holiday feast and brush up on home fire safety. Plus, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect communities, planning your celebrations may be a little different this year.  

 

“Home fires are a real threat to the Tennesseans over the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Joel Sullivan, Regional Executive Director for the American Red Cross Tennessee Region. “In particular, cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and year after year Thanksgiving is the peak day for these tragedies. We at the Red Cross are urging families to follow cooking safety steps to help prevent your holiday celebrations from going up in smoke.” 

 

House fires are one of the most common disasters the Red Cross responds to, and many fires start in the kitchen more than any other room. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, unattended cooking causes nearly 90 percent of all kitchen fires. Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries 

 

To help keep you and your loved ones safe this Thanksgiving, the American Red Cross offers these safety tips: 

• Keep an eye on what you fry. Never leave cooking food unattended. If you must leave the kitchen, even for a short period of time, turn off the stove. 
• Move items that can burn away from the stove. This includes dishtowels, bags, boxes, paper and curtains. Also keep children and pets at least three feet away. 
• Avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling sleeves while cooking. 
• When frying food, turn the burner off if you see smoke or if the grease starts to boil. Carefully remove the pan from the burner. 
• 
  Keep a pan lid or a cookie sheet nearby. Use it to cover the pan if it catches on fire. This will put out the fire. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled. 
• Turn pot handles to the back of the stove, so no one bumps them or pulls them over. 
• Use a timer to remind yourself that the stove or oven is on. Check the kitchen before going to bed or leaving home to ensure all stoves, ovens and small appliances are turned off. 
• Celebrating with the people you live with is the safest choice. If you do celebrate with people who don’t live with you, gatherings and activities held outdoors are safer than indoor gatherings. 
• Do not attend or host a holiday gathering if you are sick or have symptoms of COVID-19. 
• If you are not fully vaccinated and must travel, follow CDC’s Domestic Travel or International Travel recommendations for unvaccinated people. Everyone, even people who are fully vaccinated, will still be required to wear a mask on public transportation.  

 

You can also help keep your family safe by testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing your home fire escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two minutes — the amount of time you may have to get out of a burning home before it’s too late.  

 

Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including an escape plan to practice with your family. You can also download our free Emergency app and free Red Cross First Aid app for instant access on how to control bleeding, help someone who is choking and other scenarios. Search “American Red Cross” in app stores.