San Jose Fire To Install Alarms In National Blitz Saturday

SAN JOSE, CA — More than seven people die in fires every day, with the majority involving homes, according to the United States Fire Administration.

The American Red Cross and the San Jose Fire Department want to do everything they can to prevent these needless tragedies. That is why they're taking part in the nationwide Sound the Alarm Campaign scheduled for May 4 at 9 a.m.

Red Cross volunteering participants will work alongside the city fire department, canvassing at-risk communities to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms and educate families about fire prevention and safety.

Recognizing that mobile homes have unique fire safety hazards with many financially-challenged families, San Jose Fire was awarded a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to buy smoke- and carbon monoxide alarms for this project that nationally aims to have 100,000 devices installed in a two-week period.

"This is the big push," Capt. Mitch Matlow said. "Our goal is to protect (by installing the alarms) in 200 homes in a day."

Ground zero on Saturday will be the Westwinds Mobile Home Park on Nicholson Lane.

The fire department has installed alarms over time in a handful of other mobile home parks.

Volunteers for this event should contact the Red Cross at www.soundthealarm.org/SanJose.

Information is provided for San Jose residents in several languages. Just to illustrate how diverse the metropolitan city in Santa Clara County is, the dispatch center responded to 911 calls in 49 different languages in the last year.