November 2025 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 20
Protect your family by practicing home fire escape plan, testing smoke alarms
The American Red Cross
reminds community members
of the dangers of home fires,
which claim seven lives every
day in the United States and
claim more lives in a typical
year than all natural disasters
combined.
To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms
each month, change the batteries annually and practice your
escape plan until everyone can
get out of the home in less than
two minutes.
“Home fires can occur any
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time, any place,” Red Cross
Cascades Region CEO Priscilla
Fuentes said. “The sooner an
alarm alerts you to a fire, the
sooner you can get out. This
is critical because fire experts
say you may have less than two
minutes to escape a burning
home before it’s too late.”
Tips for creating your home
fire escape plan and practicing
your two-minute drill:
• Everyone in your household should know at least two
ways to escape from each room
in your home.
NOVEMBER 2025 SUNRIVER SCENE
• Smoke is dangerous. Get
low and go!
• Decide where to meet
once you get outside. Select a
meeting spot at a safe distance
away from your home, such as
a neighbor’s home or landmark
like a specific tree in your front
yard, where everyone knows
to meet.
• Get out and stay out. Never
go back inside for people, pets
or things.
• If a fire starts, you may have
less than two minutes to get to
safety. Time your fire drill and
find out: what’s your escape
time?
• While practicing your escape plan, teach children what
a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk
about fire safety and what to do
in an emergency.
Smoke alarm safety:
• Place smoke alarms on each
level of your home, including
inside and outside bedrooms
and sleeping areas.
• In addition to testing your
alarms once a month, change
the batteries at least once a year,
if your model requires it.
• Also check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke
alarms. If they’re 10 years or
older, they need to be replaced
because the sensor becomes less
sensitive over time. Follow the
manufacturer’s instructions.
Red Cross Disaster Action
Team volunteers provide emotional support, financial assistance, and information to
help families begin the process of recovery. Most of the
65,000 emergencies that the
Red Cross responds to each
year nationwide are home fires.
This year alone, local Red Cross
Disaster Action teams have
responded to more than 490
fires in Oregon and southwest
Washington.
Home Fire Campaign save
lives
Since October 2014, the Red
Cross Home Fire Campaign,
working with community partners, has saved at least 2,479
lives by educating families
about fire safety, helping them
create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in highrisk areas across the country. To
learn more about the campaign
and how you can get involved,
visit redcross.org/homefires.
Sign up for a free smoke
alarm installation and education by going to Redcross.org/
cascades
