KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Over the next two weeks, the American Red Cross, volunteers, and fire departments around Kansas City plan to install 1,000 free, working smoke alarms in buildings around the region.
The initiative is called “Sound the Alarm.” It raises awareness about the importance of smoke detectors.
Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department Deputy Chief Jimmy Walker said a smoke alarm can increase the probability of surviving a fire by 50 percent.
He also said there is no excuse not to have a working smoke alarm in your home, apartment, or business.
“I understand people become complacent, they always think it's not going to happen to them. But this is one of those things where it can and possibly could happen to you. Let me help you, let us help you, let's get a smoke detector in your house,” Walker said.
In the past two years, at least three people have died in house fires in Kansas City, Missouri, where smoke detectors did not work, according to the fire department. Last month, a 2-year-old died in a house fire on Wheeling Avenue and in March 2018, a mother and son died in a fire on Belmont Avenue <<>>
“It honestly breaks my heart when we have a fire and we have a fatality and we find there are no smoke detectors, or no working smoke detectors,” Walker said.
To register for the sound the alarm campaign, click here or call 816-841-5204. Volunteers will be installing alarms around Kansas City from Saturday through May 4. KCFD offers free smoke alarms all year long by calling 816-513-4610.
If you have smoke alarms, Walker suggests testing them once a month.
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