HARTFORD - Each year on 9/11, Red Cross volunteers come together for a day of service. Sound the alarm, Save a life.
It’s a nationwide American Red Cross campaign but every 9/11 it becomes a mission for volunteers in Hartford. They spend the day going door to door, making homes just a little safer in the capital city.
“We just installed some brand new 10 year lithium battery operated smoke alarms to make this family safer. They had some older smoke alarms in the home and people don’t realize that when you change the batteries the censors inside the smoke alarms deteriorate overtime so even if you replace the batteries it’s very important to replace the entire smoke alarm periodically,” Larry Berman
American Red Cross, Fire Program Coordinator.
For residents like Margarita Garcia of Hartford, it’s a huge relief knowing she has working smoke detectors in her home. She’s now making sure her grandchildren know what to do if they hear them
“When they hear the alarm sound in the room they have to go outside, don’t look for anything, go outside. They say ok, grandma,” said Garcia .
In addition to these scheduled installs crews were also out canvassing the neighborhood today. Leaving these tags on doors so that resident can call and get a smoke alarm installed free of charge later date.
“We’re looking to install over 500 alarms in one day, which is a hefty goal but we’ve achieved that over the years and we got a lot of hard working people,” said Berman.
And this program is not just for Hartford resident, anyone can get one installed free of charge!
If you would like more information about how to get a smoke alarm visit https://www.redcross.org/local/connecticut/about-us/our-work/home-fire-campaign/home-fire-safety-visit.html