Free Smoke Alarm Installations in Santa Maria Homes

40 Volunteers for the American Red Cross and the Santa Maria Fire Department spent their Saturday installing free smoke alarms in homes across Santa Maria.

“Home fires are responsible for more deaths than most major disasters in the last decade,” said American Red Cross, Disaster Program Manager, Ryan McMahon.

The Red Cross’ “Home Fire Preparedness Campaign” aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by home fires by 25% over the next five years.

“Some alarms are truly the first line of defense,” said Santa Maria Fire Department, Battalion Chief, Dan Orr.

“If someone has a fire in their home, the hope is we try and put that first line of defense into everyone’s home and if something does happen they at least have the chance to get out before we get there.”

Volunteers went knocking door to door in Santa Maria neighborhoods and installed 130 smoke detectors in less than 6 hours.

Due to the event’s success, McMahon says they expect to put on another smoke alarm installation campaign in a few months.