Hundreds of people in the Aloha area can sleep a little easier knowing their home is protected by a functioning smoke alarm. This past Saturday, TVF&R joined members of the American Red Cross and Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal to help install and replace free smoke alarms for families as part of a national Red Cross Sound the Alarm program.

Dozens of volunteers installed 148 smoke alarms across 127 homes and educated nearly 300 people on the importance of fire safety. Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster, and 16 home fire fatalities were reported by the news media in Oregon alone in 2022. After Saturday’s outreach, 360 people will now have an early warning system providing crucial time to escape in the event of a fire.

This Sound the Alarm event is a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. According to the American Red Cross, since launching in October 2014, the campaign has saved at least 1,583 lives nationwide — including at least 18 people in the Cascades Region — from the threat of home fires, which claim seven lives every day in the U.S. Aloha was one of three areas selected in the Cascades Region to participate in the program this year.

Visit SoundTheAlarm.org to learn more and make a donation to the Red Cross to help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from home fires.