A working smoke alarm can cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half. That is why, over the past decade, American Red Cross volunteers have installed more than 232,000 free smoke alarms in nearly 83,000 homes across the country, including more than 16,300 alarms in 8,855 homes on Long Island.
Across the country, every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to one of more than 60,000 disasters somewhere in the United States—most often, a home fire. In a typical year, the Red Cross on Long Island responds on average to more than 240 home fires across Nassau and Suffolk counties, helping nearly 1,400 people each year.
Although they do not receive as much media attention as hurricanes or other natural disasters, home fires are so dangerous that they claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined. Sadly, throughout the nation, home fires claim seven lives on average every day, most often in homes without working smoke alarms—and cause more than $7 billion in property damage every year.
Fire experts agree that you may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late to get out. Our work responding to fires and installing alarms has reinforced that working smoke alarms truly save lives and that a home fire escape plan further increases the odds of survival. In addition, more than a year after receiving a home safety visit through the campaign, households were more likely to have working alarms that they tested and escape plans that they practiced.
This critical work is made possible with our partners, like you, who have helped us to install free smoke alarms and make households safer across Long Island. Reducing home fire-related deaths and injuries is a complex problem. But, as we’ve worked with our fire service partners, we’ve learned that we can save lives by working together as a community. Along with the Home Fire Campaign, these efforts include the work of local fire departments to reduce home fire risks, improvements in fire suppression technologies like sprinklers, better product safety regulations, and targeted outreach to vulnerable populations.
I invite you all to join us to Sound the Alarm and help make Long Island safer in 2025 and beyond. Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including a home fire escape plan you can create and practice with your household. You can reach me at jose.dominguez@redcross.org and (646) 784-6161.