'Everyone I’ve dealt with at Smarty has been super supportive and helpful,' said Janecek.

“Being able to reliably understand where the fires are actually occurring and where we’re delivering our services is huge for us.' The American Red Cross has been using Smarty tools for about 4-5 years. 'The Smarty tool has been fundamental in helping us clean the data and build our models,” said Jake Janecek, Red Cross Project Manager. In a recent study, the difference in fire rates, fatalities, and injuries between program participants and non-participants was significant.

Include at least two ways to get out of every room and select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone can meet.Through this post-fire response investigative processes, the Red Cross has been able to document 1,189 lives saved as of November 2021! Given the quality of data collected by the Red Cross and its partners, they are one of the few organizations that has been able to document community risk reduction (and lives saved) at this scale.īecause they have clean address data management, they can also compare actual fire incident data against addresses of those who participated in their program versus those who didn’t participate.

Make sure everyone in your household can get out in less than two minutes - the amount of time you may have to escape a burning home before it’s too late.

Practice your two-minute home fire escape plan.

Follow your alarm’s manufacturer instructions. Components such as sensors can become less sensitive over time.

Replace smoke alarms that are 10 years or older.

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas.

Visit /fire for more information, including an escape plan to create and practice with your family, or download the free Red Cross Emergency app by searching “American Red Cross” in app stores.

When turning your clocks back this weekend, test your smoke alarms and replace the batteries if needed.

Some tips for the Red Cross on smoke alarm safety include:

Download red cross free smoke alarms