The Northwest Region of the American Red Cross seeks volunteers to help install 100,000 free smoke alarms during Sound the Alarm home fire safety events this spring.

People can register now at SoundTheAlarm.org to volunteer at home fire safety and smoke alarm installation events in Tacoma (May 4) and Seattle (May 11) and raise donations to help save lives from home fires. These crises are the nation’s most frequent disaster and kill seven people each day –often in homes without working smoke alarms.

“Neighbors vulnerable to home fires need your support today to prevent needless tragedies,” said Alex Dieffenbach, Northwest Region CEO. “You can help families by ensuring they have working smoke alarms and know how to stay safe from these everyday disasters. Please join us to volunteer and raise funds to support our free, lifesaving services.”

What is Sound the Alarm?

The Red Cross is rallying 30,000 volunteers and partners to install 100,000 free smoke alarms and help families create home fire escape plans in 100 high-risk communities nationwide. Services are free for all those in need and being provided with the help of local fire departments in Everett, Tacoma and Seattle, where more than 400 volunteers are needed.

Why I volunteer

“We know we’re helping to save a life,” Bonnie and Gerry Gibson said.

Bonnie and Gerry Gibson’s son, Greg, in a home fire in 2016. The home he was living in did not have working smoke alarms. Today, his family volunteers with the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, installing free smoke alarms and teaching people how to prevent home fires. View their story at vimeo.com.

Campaign to #endhomefires

Sound the Alarm events are part of the Home Fire Campaign, which the Red Cross launched in 2014 to reduce fire deaths and injuries. So far, it has reached more than 1.7 million people and saved more than 500 lives nationwide. In the Northwest Region, Red Cross volunteers and local partners have:

• Installed more than 21,000 free smoke alarms

• Made more than 8,500 households safer

• Reached more than 11,000 children through youth preparedness programs

The work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from regional partners: Microsoft, Wells Fargo, State Farm, U.S. Bank, The Seattle Foundation, United Way of King County.

For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.