Sound the alarm for fire safety

NORWICH, Ohio- Two local organizations have teamed up to help teach fire safety to residents.

The Southeast Ohio American Red Cross has partnered with the United Way of Muskingum, Perry, and Morgan counties to ‘Sound the alarm’ for fire safety. The Red Cross Executive Director said families only have two minutes to exit their homes if there’s a fire and having working smoke alarms are essential.

“Sound the alarm is a national program that the Red Cross is doing and we’re actually going into homes all across the country and installing smoke alarms. We can install up to three alarms per household,” said Marlene Henderson the Executive Director of the Southeastern Ohio American Red Cross.

The United Way of MPM invested in the community disaster relief program with the Red Cross and is hoping to help educate the public on the need for smoke alarms.

“United Way invests in community disaster education for our three county reach and made that investment with American Red Cross so we can make households in our area safer,” said Katie McNeil the Resource Development Director of the United Way of MPM.

The smoke alarms are free for residents and will last for 10 years. Henderson says anyone interested can contact the American Red Cross office to set up an appointment.