American Red Cross of Colorado & Wyoming, January 8, 2018 – On Average, Red Cross volunteers are responding to home fires two to three time each day in the two-state region. Nearly all of those calls for help come after a home fire. “We’re deeply saddened for those who have been impacted by disaster, such as a fire,” said Mike Masto, American Red Cross Regional Disaster Officer. “As we continue to help them, we urge everyone to take steps to minimize the risk of a fire occurring in their home.”
HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire. The Red Cross has been working to reduce that number through its Home Fire Campaign, a multi-year effort to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent. Launched in October of 2014, the campaign has already saved many lives and installed hundreds of thousands of smoke alarms in nearly 10,000 cities and towns. Here in the Colorado & Wyoming region, the Red Cross and community partners installed more than 6,100 smoke alarms last year.
SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVE LIVES: The Red Cross is calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: practice fire drills at home and check existing smoke alarms.
There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:
- If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.
- If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them.
- Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
- Practice the fire escape plan. What’s the household’s escape time?
Breakdown of the CO & WY 87 county service area:
Mile High Chapter (MHC): 52 individuals received aid; 21 were under 18 years old. The MHC response area includes 10 counties in the Denver Metro area.
Southeastern Colorado Chapter (SeCO): 16 individuals received aid; 6 were age 65 or older while 2 were under 18 years old. The SeCO response area includes 16 counties.
Northern Colorado Chapter (NoCO): 13 individuals received aid; 2 were under 18 years old. The NoCO response area includes 11 counties.
Western Colorado Chapter (WeCO): 4 individuals received aid. The WeCo response area covers 27 counties, serving all western Colorado and the San Luis Valley.
Wyoming Chapter: 23 individuals received aid; 3 were under age 18. The Wyoming Chapter response area covers all 23 counties that make up the state of Wyoming.
The families and individuals were provided a place to stay, money for clothes, food and medicine. Along with providing casework for the residents in a quick and efficient time frame, Red Cross volunteers will continue to provide support to these families going forward, by doing follow up work to ensure all needs are met and the individuals have a clear path to recovery from this personal disaster.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
Locally, follow @COWYRedCross on Twitter for daily updates on disaster response across Colorado & Wyoming.