Treasure Valley Volunteers Want to Save Your Life

This is hard.  Every day, the Red Cross says 7 people die in home fires and most of them are in homes that don’t have working smoke alarms.  Volunteers in the Treasure Valley are going to change that, and there's still time to get involved and help save a life.

The Red Cross has launched the Home Fire Campaign to help make sure there are smoke alarms in every home in the Treasure Valley, and across the U.S.  Volunteers are going to walk through at-risk neighborhoods in a few days and they'll work alongside fire departments and other local groups to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, educate families about fire prevention.

The kids might learn "stop, drop, and roll," in school, but when is the last time we had a refresher course as adults?  This will help us put that family escape plan together that we're all supposed to have but rarely have time to sit down and hash out.  And if you're a single lady like me, having someone come by to check the batteries in the smoke alarm is totally welcome!  I'll even supply the ladder.

If you need a free smoke alarm installed, you can click HERE to request one.  SoundTheAlarm.org says the effort has been going for about four years, and in that time they've saved hundreds of lives.

Between April 27 and May 12, the Red Cross will install thousands of smoke alarms in hundreds of homes in Idaho, and special events are planned throughout the state, including in Nampa. To volunteer, you can go to SoundTheAlarm.org/Idaho.  You don't even have to be too mechanically-minded to pitch in and help out.  They'll train ya.

To request a home visit in Nampa during the fire safety campaign, it's a matter of answering some short questions and letting them know whether April 26 or April 27 works better for you.

If you've been thinking about volunteering more and pitching in to help a neighbor, this is a great opportunity.  And if the stories about tragic home fires suddenly stop, we'll have you and the local chapter of the Red Cross to thank.