Nearly 200 American Red Cross volunteers hit the pavement today to make sure more homes in northeast Wisconsin are prepared in the terrible event of a house fire.
Across America today seven people will die in a house fire, many won't have smoke detectors that work, and only about 10 percent of homeowners will have an escape plan in the books. Today the American Red Cross is trying to change that one community at a time, stretching across Brown County.
These volunteers going door to door don't have a sales pitch; they just want to be invited inside.
"We'll test all the alarms in their homes and find out if we need to install anymore in their house," says Tara Williams of the American Red Cross.
Everyone is supposed to check their smoke detectors once a year, but just knock on a couple of doors in Green Bay and you'll find out that many don't.
"I did have one old one. He's in retirement now. They took him away," says Monica Shanklin jokingly who found out one of her smoke detectors was over ten years old and needed to be replaced.
Nearly one thousand smoke detectors will be installed across Brown County today by teams like these. They'll also start a conversation with folks about their escape plans on the off chance, that there was a fire.
"We're sitting with the homeowners and we're sitting with children within the home and we're actually mapping out an escape route for them," says Steve Hansen the Chapter Executive for the American Red Cross of Northeast Wisconsin.
"I always talk about it with my children but we never actually put a plan in place or in order so it's just another reminder," adds Shanklin who figured out her families escape plan today.
The odds of surviving a house fire increase 50 percent if you have a smoke detector that works in your home, which is really the main reason for today’s push.
"They just want to help save lives," adds Williams.
So next time you get an unexpected knock on the door, and their wearing the bright red and white apparel associated with the Red Cross, hopefully your ready for them and you can tell them I just checked mine but thanks for the reminder.
The American Red Cross is always offering free smoke detector installations and guidance on how to put an escape plan together for you and your family. We’ve included a link to their website below with all of the details.
