Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton Supports Red Cross Free Fire Alarm Campaign

The death rate from fires in homes with working smoke alarms is 50% lower than in homes without them. Since the American Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign in 2014 over 650,000 smoke alarms have been installed nationwide. The smoke alarms are free and installed by volunteers at no cost. Since they have a ten-year battery, the entire unit is replaced after ten years instead of having to test regularly and install new batteries.

Glen Cove Landing Elementary schoolteacher, Karen Serani, is an American Red Cross volunteer who has helped install hundreds of alarms in homes across Long Island. On March 2, she visited the Glen Cove Senior Center to inform its members about the program and help schedule appointments for anyone interested in having one or more smoke alarms installed in their homes.

“When our teams visit homes to install the free ten-year smoke alarms, we ensure they are installed in the proper locations and that there are the right number of alarms for the size and design of the home,” Serani said. “An educator reviews escape plans and fire safety procedures with the families while a documenter takes notes and other volunteers are installing the new alarms.”

The program is available to senior citizens or anyone else wishing to have one or more free smoke alarms installed in their homes. “Having working smoke alarms and the right placement of them in homes is literally a life-saving necessity,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton added. “Since the Red Cross is offering the alarms for free and installation through volunteers like Karen, everyone should schedule appointments to ensure their families are safer.”

There is a Smoke Alarm Installation event scheduled for March 26 in Glen Cove, but appointments can be scheduled for other dates and communities. Call the Long Island Red Cross at 516-229-1086 or sign up online by visiting redcross.org/lifiresafety. Scroll down and click on the link at the end of the “Local Story.” Feel free to contact Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton’s office with questions at 516-571-6211 or dderiggiwhitton@nassaucountyny.gov.

Pictures in photo (from left): Red Cross volunteer and Port Washington Crisis Relief Team board member Vivian Moy, Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton, Red Cross volunteer Karen Serani and American Red Cross Program Director Joe Spaccarelli during a smoke alarm sign-up event at the Glen Cove Senior Center. Delia presented Karen with an award thanking her for her exceptional level of volunteerism.