Monessen VFD to distribute smoke alarms in conjunction with American Red Cross
Courtesy of the American Red Cross
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Monessen residents who need smoke alarms can get them in an American Red Cross Sound the Alarm event May 11.
Kick off for Monessen Sound the Alarm will be held at 9:30 a.m. at the Monessen Volunteer Fire Department with remarks and volunteer training. Smoke alarms will be installed until 3 p.m. at city homes. Volunteer teams also will discuss home fire safety with families.
“We come out and do the installation and then we do a short presentation on fire safety, escape plans and rally points,” said Paul Buchko, a Monessen firefighter for 24 years. “We make recommendations if we see anything that may not be the best for fire prevention.”
This is the first year Monessen firefighters will be involved in the Sound the Alarm event. The department has made a concentrated effort to get smoke alarms into houses this year.
“I have a lot of friends in surrounding fire departments who were talking about this Red Cross program,” Buchko said. “I thought that might be something good for the citizens of Monessen. It’s just something we provide for the community while we educate on fire safety.”
Buchko said the alarms are good for 10 years, so people don’t have to worry about changing the batteries.
The Monessen VFD is working on the Sound the Alarm event in partnership with Christ’s Church Greensburg.
The effort is part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, in which smoke alarms are installed in homes that don’t have them.The program has resulted in the installation of more than 2.6 million smoke alarms and has helped save at least 2,063 lives since launching in October 2014.
Monessen residents in need of a smoke alarm can schedule an appointment by calling 833-315-0882 or by visiting soundthealarm.org/greaterpa. Volunteers will go door-to-door to offer home fire safety visits even for those who do not make an appointment.
“I’d like to see every household have at least a smoke detector on every floor of their house,” Buchko said.
A Sound the Alarm event was held April 13 in Uniontown.
“A working smoke alarm can be the difference between survival and tragedy when a home fire strikes,” said Jorge Martinez, CEO of the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania. “That’s why the Red Cross is teaming up with our community partners to ensure neighbors have these lifesaving devices.”