Get a Free Smoke Alarm in North Kingstown on June 20

Smoke alarms save lives, but not everyone has new ones.

Thanks to a program sponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of the American Red Cross and the North Kingstown Fire Department, there’s no excuse for anyone in town not to have new and properly-working smoke alarms before July.

Both the Red Cross and the fire department will visit residents on June 20 to install new, free smoke alarms and share some fire safety information. It’s part of the Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, which aims to reduce the number of fire-related deaths.

Residents can schedule a visit by visiting www.redcross.org/ri/schedule-a-visit or by calling 877-287-3327 and choosing option 1 on the menu to request a smoke alarm installation. The Town of North Kingstown is also reaching out to residents to make them aware of the program.

Red Cross volunteers will be joined by North Kingstown Fire Department personnel, Civil Air Patrol volunteers and personnel from the State Fire Marshal’s office to visit homes in the neighborhood surrounding School Street between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on June 20. Teams making visits will share fire safety and preparedness information and install smoke alarms in homes where no smoke alarms are present. Volunteers will help families understand the importance of fire safety and help them develop personalized family escape plans to use in the event a fire breaks out in their home.

“We are excited to offer these visits,” said Elizabeth McDonald, Senior Director of Emergency Services with the Rhode Island Chapter. “They are easy to schedule, take only about 20 minutes and might prevent a tragedy.”

McDonald said the presence of working smoke alarms in a home cuts in half the risk of someone dying from a home fire. “Smoke alarms save lives and we know that they add valuable escape time when they are installed and working properly,” she added.

Simple Steps to Save Lives

McDonald said that early detection of fire and an escape plan are vital to safely surviving a home fire.

“Fire experts agree that you could have as little as two minutes to escape a home in the event of a fire. Smoke alarms can notify you of fire and an escape plan can reduce panic and time spent getting out of your home.” McDonald added that canvassers will share information and tools to help families develop a personalized escape plan.

The Red Cross is asking everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: check their existing smoke alarms and practice fire drills at home.

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

• If you do not have smoke alarms in your home, 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 in your community.
• If you do have smoke 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?