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Sounding the alarm for greater home fire preparedness

Published: June 16, 2022

Enbridge funding has helped American Red Cross, other agencies install smoke alarms in tens of thousands of North American homes

The statistics for home fires in the U.S. are staggering. On average, seven people die every day and more than $7 billion in property damage occurs every year from home fires.

The prevalence of home fires, which increased during the pandemic as we all spent more time at home, highlights the need for a program like the American Red Cross's Home Fire Campaign. In Nebraska, specifically, the Red Cross chapter based in Grand Island, NE has seen a 20+% increase in home fires reported so far this year.

“This is much higher than the average in that time frame,” says Erin Dewitt, a Nebraska-based regional philanthropy officer with American Red Cross. “Home appliances such as heaters and stoves are being used so much more—it emphasizes the need for installing fire detectors and teaching families what to do if a home fire occurs.”

When the Red Cross responds on-scene, team members provide households with food, clothes, and a safe place to stay to get individuals—often families—through an exceedingly tough time. The chapters are also equipped to connect people with social service resources to aid with insurance and financial matters.

“Anything to help them get back on their feet.”

Launched in 2014, the Home Fire Campaign has installed more than 1.3 million smoke alarms in homes across the U.S. Documented through records of alarm installation and home fire reports. The organization also knows that the campaign has saved 1,275 lives to date.

Safety is the foundation of everything we do at Enbridge. Through programs like our Safe Community First Responder Program, we help boost safety in the communities near our operations in a variety of ways.

In addition to recent contributions to American Red Cross chapters in Nebraska totalling $7,500, we’re also supporting smoke alarm installation in communities across North America.

Project Zero: 68,000 smoke alarms and counting

As part of its Safe Community Project Zero campaign, in collaboration with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council, Enbridge Gas Inc. made a $500,000 donation in 2021—which furnished the installation of more than 16,600 smoke/CO alarms in 70 communities across Ontario, Canada’s largest province.

In 2022, Enbridge Gas contributed another $250,000 to Safe Community Project Zero, which will see another 8,000 smoke/CO alarms installed around the province. Project Zero has already provided more than 68,000 smoke alarms to Ontario fire departments over the past 13 years.

Saving lives in Minnesota, Wisconsin

We also make ongoing annual donations to the American Red Cross in the U.S. Midwest, which have furnished the installation of more than 1,000 smoke alarms in Northern Minnesota alone over the past several years.

“In Northern Minnesota and Douglas County, Wisconsin alone, we have documented eight incidents where 24 people were able to escape home fires after being alerted to fires in time to get out safely—just in the past three years,” notes Dan Williams, executive director of the Northern Minnesota chapter of the American Red Cross.

“Since the Home Fire Campaign started in late 2014, the Northern Minnesota chapter has installed over 12,000 free smoke alarms in at-risk homes,” he adds. “Much appreciation to Enbridge for their important role in making these successes happen.”

Making homes safer: The two-minute drill

Enbridge’s donations to the Nebraska chapter of the American Red Cross are also being used to support the Homes Made Safer program, an affiliate of the Home Fire Campaign, to educate the community on how to make their home safer in the event of a disaster.

Such education in communities involves Red Cross teams canvassing neighbourhoods and working with households on how to escape from their home in two minutes, from developing home fire escape plans to identifying meeting spots outside the home.

“Most of the communities we work in are lower income, so many simply don’t have the means to help themselves by purchasing a smoke detector,” says Dewitt. “It means a lot to be able to offer them for free to these folks—all it takes is a call to 211.”

Part of the Home Fire Campaign is the annual spring installation event called Sound the Alarm, which sees Red Cross team members go door-to-door offering free smoke detector installations, often resulting in over 100 homes in a single community gaining these life-saving alarms.

Nationally, the American Red Cross responds to a home fire every eight minutes. The Homes Made Safer and Home Fire Campaign initiatives prioritize prevention and preparation to ensure lives aren’t lost due to home fires.

“We know it’s working,” says Dewitt. “My dad was a firefighter, and I know he would be proud of how far we’ve come.”

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