American Red Cross | Sound the Alarm - Save a Life

On average, more lives are lost to home fires every year than to all other major disasters combined. A home fire can strike anytime, anywhere—devastating families, but smoke alarms cut the risk of death from a fire in half.

That’s why this spring, the American Red Cross and partners are tackling this problem head on, mobilizing large numbers of volunteers to advance efforts around Sound the Alarm, an initiative to install smoke alarms in households nationwide.

This year in Wisconsin, Sound the Alarm will have an impact on two regions: the Fox Cities on Saturday, May 4^th and Milwaukee on Saturday, April 27^th. Although the program is available year-round across the United States, these concentrated days give the program a boost, raising awareness and participation. In fact, during the two-day 2019 Sound the Alarm event, the goal is to install 1,750 smoke alarms in 800 Wisconsin households.

Visitors to https://getasmokealarm.org/ can request a free smoke alarm installation by providing their basic personal information via a web form. Alternatively, smoke alarm installation can be requested by texting the word ‘Alarm’ to 844-811-0100 and following the prompts.

The American Red Cross and its volunteer partners will install up to three free smoke alarms per home. In addition, the Red Cross installs a limited number of specialized bedside alarms for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. There are no eligibility requirements to receive a smoke alarm, but the program does encourage participation in at-risk areas.

Already, these efforts are paying off; as of October 2018, 552 documented lives have been saved nationwide thanks to this program. By working together, we will help save lives and reduce injuries, strengthening our community’s ability to be resilient in the face of any disaster—large or small.