Red Cross and local safety agencies to install free smoke alarms Sept. 10; sign up at 873-5829

The Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross is partnering with Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, emergency service agencies in Woodford County (county fire department, ambulance service and emergency management; and the Midway and Versailles fire departments) and other community partners to install smoke alarms where needed in Midway and the county.

On Saturday, Sept. 10, volunteer teams from the Red Cross and the agencies will install smoke alarms free of charge to city and county residents from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The teams will visit targeted neighborhoods, but residents can also sign up in advance by contacting Jerald Wash at 873-5829.

The effort is part of the Red Cross's nationwide Home Fire Campaign, which has a goal of reducing the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent over the next five years. "Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a home fire," the Red Cross said in a press release. "Countless others suffer injuries."  

“Installing smoke alarms cuts the risk of someone dying from a home fire in half, so we are joining with the fire department and other community volunteers to install smoke alarms,” Steve Powell, Red Cross disaster program manager, said in the release. “We also will be teaching people how to be safe from a home fire.”

In Kentucky last year, the Red Cross responded to nearly 1,400 disasters, most of which were fires in single-family homes. As part of the Home Fire Campaign, 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." For more safety tips visit http://rdcrss.org/JwSNUG.