Sayreville elementary school student dies in car fire, superintendent says
NEW JERSEY

Red Cross fire campaign installs 2,000 free smoke alarms

American Red Cross

PRINCETON – To help reduce the number of home fire-related injuries and fatalities, the American Red Cross launched the Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Campaign in New Jersey and across the county.

As part of the five-year campaign, the Red Cross is partnering with fire departments and community organizations to help families be better prepared for and take important steps to prevent home fires. Volunteers from the Red Cross and partner organizations have been visiting homes in high fire-risk cities talking to families about fire safety and installing free smoke alarms in homes that need them.

"Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of death from a home fire in half," said Steven Sarinelli, regional disaster officer, American Red Cross North Jersey Region. "We are proud to bring the Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Campaign to cities across the region and are grateful to our volunteers and community partners who have been instrumental in the success of this potentially lifesaving fire safety initiative."

Since the launch of the campaign in October, the American Red Cross North Jersey Region and its community partners have installed 2,200 smoke alarms and educated nearly 1,000 families about fire safety in cities including Perth Amboy, East Orange, Orange, Jersey City, Trenton, Irvington, Paterson and Linden.

The Home Fire Preparedness Campaign continues to expand across the northern half of New Jersey with upcoming fire safety events in Clifton and Passaic.

As part of the Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, Lewis Greensway (left) and Fred Wood, Jr. (second from left) of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters, Officer Francisco Munoz and Red Cross volunteer Alda VinBickas visited Paterson homes to install free smoke alarms in homes that need them and provide fire safety information on March 14.

Simple steps to save lives

Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire. The Red Cross is asking every household in America to take the two simple steps that can save lives: checking their existing smoke alarms and practicing their fire escape plan.

'We are encouraging families to make fire safety a priority," said Sarinelli. "Having functioning smoke alarms and a regularly practiced fire escape plan can increase your chances of surviving a home fire."

There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:

•If someone doesn't have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.

•If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don't work, replace them.

•Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.

•Practice that plan. What's the household's escape time?

For free fire safety tips and resources visit, redcross.org/FireSafety.