826 Free Smoke Alarms Installed For Oceanside Families

OCEANSIDE, CA — Hundreds of free smoke alarms were installed over the weekend for Oceanside families.

Volunteers, community partners, and members of the American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties and the Oceanside Fire Department installed 826 smoke alarms for families during the Sound the Alarm home fire safety event Saturday in Oceanside. The event served 528 people and made 309 homes safer, according to the Red Cross.

"We are grateful to everyone who supported our Sound the Alarm event to help keep hundreds of our neighbors safe from home fires," said Melissa Altman, community disaster program manager for the American Red Cross Southern California Region. "Home fires are a constant threat in our community, accounting for most of our disaster responses. Our efforts will make a lasting difference to help save lives."

During Sound the Alarm events, Red Cross volunteers and partners install free smoke alarms and provide home fire safety information to help prevent home fire deaths and injuries.

Thanks to the efforts of the Red Cross, the Oceanside Fire Department and the Burn Institute, an Oceanside family of five was able to escape a home fire in December.

"I'm so thankful that we went through that training," said Duane Bennett about the home fire safety visits that his family received.

Sound the Alarm events like the Oceanside event are part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has helped save at least 2,320 lives since launching in October 2014, according to the organization. Since then, the Red Cross and local partners have installed more than 47,400 free smoke alarms in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Residents in San Diego County can visit SoundTheAlarm.org/SoCal and schedule an appointment for free smoke alarm installation at any time.