Red Cross to install free smoke alarms for local families during Sound the Alarm event this Saturday - Nashville Area

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 23, 2023 – Volunteers and members of the American Red Cross Nashville Area chapter will install free smoke alarms for families during a Sound the Alarm home fire safety event at Foxcroft Apartments in Nashville this Saturday, March 25 at 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Volunteers will meet at the Nashville Area chapter auditorium at 2201 Charlotte Avenue in Nashville. There is no experience needed, volunteers will receive a training Saturday morning before going to the event at Foxcroft Apartments. 

 “Our volunteers are dedicated to provide fire safety and prevention training to the counties we serve, and we have unfortunately seen more home fires as the Nashville metro area grows in population,” Joel Sullivan, regional executive director said. “By the end of this weekend, we hope to make more than 135 people prepared for the risk of home fires, which equals 55 homes made safer by our Sound the Alarm event.” 

The American Red Cross responded last summer to a large-scale multi-family fire at the complex, and served families affected by the disaster for weeks following the fire. The apartments are in the southwest area of Nashville, which is one of the more frequent areas for home fires. 

Every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster. Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster, including in Davidson County. Local fire departments have reported an increasing number of fire related incidents in the last year. Since fiscal year (FY) 2023 began in July, there have been 153 home fire responses by the American Red Cross in Davidson County. 

Since launching in October 2014, this program and other Home Fire Campaign efforts have saved at least 1,583 lives nationwide — including 43 people in the Tennessee Region — 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. Locally, the Nashville Area chapter volunteers, have installed more than 400 free smoke alarms in FY 2022, making homes more prepared against fire-related disasters. Since the program began in Nashville in 2015, volunteers and staff with the Nashville Area chapter have installed 7,991 free smoke alarms. 

To learn more about how you can help people prepare for, respond to and recover from home fires, and to sign up to volunteer go to SoundtheAlarm.org/Tennessee, or email Kevin Morrison, Disaster Program Supervisor, at kevin.morrison@redcross.org. 

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feed and provide comfort to victims of disasters; supply about 40% of the nation's blood; teach skills that save lives; distribute international humanitarian aid; and support veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.