Red Cross, Eunice Fire Department, churches to install smoke alarms, promote fire safety

The Red Cross, Eunice Fire Department, First Baptist Church, Golden Star Baptist Church, Our Savior’s Church, other churches and individuals will be uniting in Eunice on Saturday to install free smoke alarms in homes that need them and teach people about what they can do now to be prepared should a fire break out in their home.
The American Red Cross home fire campaign aims to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next five years, a Red Cross news released stated.
Eunice Fire Chief Michael Arnold said volunteers are needed for Saturday’s event.
“Volunteers are needed to assist with the entire event, from registration to installing the smoke detectors. We are also on the lookout for households without smoke detectors, so that we can get them some and install the units,” he said in an email.
Arnold asked volunteers to call 337-457-6557. Or, sign up or learn more by calling the Acadiana Red Cross at 337-234-7371.
The area of focus for the canvass is Williams and Anne streets between Vivian and James, and the larger area between Maple Avenue and U.S. 190 and South East Street and South Martin Luther King Drive.
Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire – a statistic too personal in Eunice and Acadiana. The Red Cross campaign focuses on joining fire departments, including Eunice Fire, and community groups nationwide to install smoke alarms in areas with high numbers of fires and encouraging everyone to practice their fire escape plans.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about having working smoke alarms in every home in order to save lives,” said Red Cross volunteer Bonnie Robert Will, who is helping coordinate theEunice event. “I pray the State Fire Marshall, the American Red Cross and community volunteers continue to canvass neighborhoods until all homes have working smoke alarms and escape plans.”
Individuals, families and groups are invited to join the fire safety effort that will begin at Golden Star Baptist Church, 723 Anne Ave., with orientation and training before volunteers go into the neighborhood surrounding the church. Registration begins at 8:40 a.m.; after an orientation and training at 9 a.m., volunteers will canvass the neighborhood 9:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., when lunch will be provided. “Installing smoke alarms cuts the risk of someone dying from a home fire in half, so we’re joining with groups and individuals from across our community to install smoke alarms,” said Merri Alessi, executive director for the Red Cross in Acadiana. “We also will be teaching people how to be safe from home fire.”
Even as the Red Cross and other groups install smoke alarms in some neighborhoods, they are calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: check their existing smoke alarms and practice fire drills at home.
There are several actions 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 that plan. What’s the household’s escape time?
In a 2015 survey, the Red Cross reported many of those surveyed (41 percent) feel confident they can get out of a burning home in under two minutes. And most parents (64 percent) believe their children would know what to do if a fire occurred.
However, many of these families admitted they didn’t take key steps to help keep their family safe. Only about half of the parents surveyed (52 percent) talked to their families about fire safety. Only 10 percent of families have actually practiced home fire drills. And only about a quarter of families (24 percent) have identified a safe place where family members can meet outside the home.
The survey also shows that Americans are engaging in unsafe behaviors that could result in home fires. More than a third of those surveyed (36 percent) admitted using candles when the power goes out instead of flashlights. And despite cooking being the leading cause of home fires, one in five (17 percent) have left cooking food unattended on the stove.