VALDOSTA – The South Georgia Red Cross made an impact in the lives of county and city residents on April 27th in Valdosta – Lowndes County. More than 80 volunteers gave their time on a beautiful spring day and installed 242 smoke alarms and made 113 households safer, by drawing an escape plan with individuals and families.
Mayor John Gayle, County Representative Lloyd Green and City Councilwoman Vivian Cody were in attendance and expressed their appreciation to the South Georgia Red Cross for the program that helps save lives.
Partner groups such as the Valdosta Parks & Recreation Department, Valdosta City Fire Department, Lowndes County Fire Department, Valdosta City Police Department, Black Crow Media, Valdosta Board of Realtors, Living Bridges Ministry, Technique Athletes, VSU Rotaract, Home Depot, Marine Corp “Deppers”, Fairway Advertising, 92.1 with Scott James and the VSU Chapter of Society of Human Resource Management. Other support came from The Exchange Club of Valdosta, America’s Second Harvest, Carter’s Produce Market, Pepsi and Panera Bread.
City resident Barbara Ivanscho expressed her gratitude for the Red Cross for the second home visit. During the pre-canvass event, she told us she had only one alarm but after going back to her homethis past Saturday, it was discovered that it was not operational, so two alarms were installed in her home. County resident Amanda McFarland stated, “I think it is amazing that you are doing this today. We were wondering how we would be able to afford them. I was not aware of this program and I am very thankful for this.”
A new national American Red Cross survey shows that roughly two in five people think it’s more likely that they’ll win the lottery than lose their home in a fire. But the real chance is greater of dying from exposure to fire or smoke (nearly one in 1,500), compared to winning the lottery (typically one in millions. One in seven people die every day due to home fires.
96 PERCENT ENGAGED IN FIRE-RISK ACTIVITIES Almost all people surveyed said they’ve engaged in ordinary activities that are among the leading causes of home fires. For example:• More than 70 percent of people said they’ve left the kitchen while cooking on the stove.• Nearly three in five adults have walked away from their grill while cooking.• Nearly one-third of people left the room or fell asleep while burning candles.
To help stay safe, the Red Cross urges everyone to always supervise cooking equipment and candles and follow additional safety tips at redcross.org/homefires. For more information about the national survey, see this video and infographic.
JOIN US TO #ENDHOMEFIRES Properly working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by 50 percent, yet one in 10 adults reported not purchasing an alarm because of the expense. In addition, nearly half of those surveyed said they’ve disconnected an alarm or taken the batteries out of an alarm.
That’s why the Red Cross of Georgia is seeking volunteers for their upcoming Sound the Alarmhome fire safety and smoke alarm installation events. People can register now at SoundTheAlarm.org to help install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms and help families create home fire escape plans. There is also information about how to help fundraise to help people impacted by a home fire-related emergency.
Upcoming Free Smoke Alarm Installation Events in Georgia:
| May 1 | Atlanta | DeKalb County | Fire Station 26 |
| May 4 | Albany | Dougherty County | First United Methodist Church |
| Athens | Clarke County | American Red Cross of Northeast Georgia, office | |
| Augusta | Richmond County | Castle Pines Mobile Home Park | |
| Barnesville | Lamar County | Fire Station 107 | |
| Columbus | Muscogee County | American Red Cross of West Central Georgia, office | |
| Summerville | Chattooga County | Chattooga Agricultural Center | |
| May 11 | Conyers | Rockdale County | Sunrise Church |
Sound the Alarm events are part of the Home Fire Campaign, which the Red Cross launched in 2014 to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries. So far, nationwide, it has reached more than 1.7 million people and as saved 582 lives.
In 2018, volunteers in Georgia and community partners joined together to:• Install 13,300 free smoke alarms• Make more than 5,800 households safer by helping to create fire escape plans• Reach more than 10,000 children through youth preparedness programs
This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from regional partners like: UPS, Georgia Power, Northside Hospital, State Farm and Wells Fargo.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS HOME FIRE SAFETY SURVEY: The national public opinion survey was conducted for the Red Cross from January 31 to February 3, 2019 using Engine’s Online CARAVAN Omnibus Survey. The study was conducted among a national sample of 1,003 adults, ages 18 or older living in U.S. states. The total sample is balanced to be representative of the U.S. adult population in terms of age, sex, geographic region, race and education. The margin of error for the total sample of 1,003 adults is +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
