For the Reporter
Home fires kill seven people every day in this country. Fire-related injuries are reported every 40 minutes. Residential fires cause $7 billion in property damage annually.
How can residents reduce these dismal statistics? A new program by the Red Cross that the Kent Regional Fire Authority is participating in is working to decrease the deaths, injuries and damage.
On Saturday, Red Cross and Kent Fire staff will work with the residents of the Kenton Firs and Clark Glen Mobile Home Parks. The Kent RFA and the Red Cross are concentrating on mobile home parks because of the increased danger that fires pose to the light-weight homes and their limited egress points. Notices of the free smoke alarm program have already been distributed to both neighborhoods.
Teams will be made up of firefighters, Red Cross volunteers and Zone 3 Fire Explorers.
The program begins at 10 a.m. at the Station 74 Training Center, 24523 116 Ave. SE, Kent.
For residents, early warning is the key.
The warning comes in the form of smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms can cut the chance of dying in a residential fire by half, and the Red Cross’s nationwide campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent over the next five years is a major step in making residents safer. This means 638 less deaths, 3,285 less injuries, and $1.7 billion less in fire damage – every year.
In addition to installing new smoke alarms, the Red Cross is asking the public to take two more steps: Check existing smoke alarms to ensure they are working and to plan/practice an in-home fire escape drill.
For more information, please call 206-450-8400.
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