(Press Release) — American Red Cross-NMI chapter volunteers Jack Amirez, Chloe Sin, Richard Defan and Triana Zhu responded to a home fire on Isa Drive in Sadog Tasi, Saturday evening.
“We are saddened for those impacted,” said J.D. Tenorio the disaster program manager for the NMI chapter of the American Red Cross. “We urge everyone to take steps to minimize the risk of a fire occurring in their home.”
The call about the fire came in just as the Red Cross was announcing the winners for this year’s American Red Cross Club 200 virtual fundraising event.
“This unfortunate event was truly a mission moment for us” said John Hirsh, executive director of the NMI chapter. He further stated that the Red Cross’ mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
“This is exactly what happened on the evening of Dec. 19th” stated Hirsh. “It really is through the generosity of our donors and the power of our volunteers that we were able to assist the affected individuals.”
Simple steps to save lives
The Red Cross is calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: practice fire drills at home and check existing smoke alarms.
There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:
• If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be additional requirements where someone lives.
• If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them.
• Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes.
• Practice the fire escape plan. What’s the household’s escape time?
What people can do
People can visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more about how to protect themselves and their loved homes from fire. They can become a Red Cross volunteer by contacting the local chapter office at 234-3459 or by visiting its website at www.redcross.org/nmi
They can also help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org
Donations will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. The Red Cross responds to nearly 64,000 other disasters every year and most of these are home fires.
