Red Cross to install smoke alarms after child dies in fatal fire

ATLANTA - When a fire starts, you may have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late to get out.  To combat these tragic statistics, the Red Cross has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent by the end of 2019.

Red Cross workers in Atlanta and statewide are joining with local fire departments and community groups to visit neighborhoods at high risk for fires. Those visits include educating people about fire safety through door-to-door visits and installation of free smoke alarms in homes that need them.

In 2015 Metro Atlanta’s Red Cross responded to 1,643 home fires. There were 35 home fires in Spaulding County alone with 133 people assisted by Red Cross last year. Since the start of the year, there have been 32 deaths due to home fire in Georgia.

Red Cross along with the Spalding County Fire Department will be visiting the neighborhood near Old School Road, where a 6-year-old died from a house fire February 19.  Sadly, this serves as reminder for all homes to have more than one working smoke alarm installed as well a reliable escape plan should a fire occur. 

Join the Red Cross Saturday, March 19 between 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Woodruff Station 4 at 4245 Old Atlanta Road, Griffin, Ga. 30223