Local American Red Cross volunteers are helping a family of five, including two adults and three children, following a single family home fire off Hwy. 52 in Fountain on Wednesday.
“After devastating fires, Red Cross volunteers connect with those affected ensuring they have a safe, warm place to stay, additional necessities, plus emotional support and help with long-term recovery planning,” said Melanie Tschida, Executive Director of the American Red Cross serving Southeast Minnesota.
National Home Fire Campaign
Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire. The Red Cross has a nationwide campaign called Sound the Alarm, Save a Life to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25% over the next five years. As part of the campaign, the Red Cross is joining fire departments and community groups nationwide to install smoke alarms in communities with high numbers of fires. The Red Cross also is asking every household in America to take the two simple steps that can save lives: checking their existing smoke alarms and practicing fire drills at home.
Free smoke alarm installation
If you or a loved one needs a free smoke alarm installed, visit getasmokealarm.org, call (612) 460-3674 or text “ALARM” to (844) 811-0100.
For more information about home fire safety, including safety checklists, printable fire escape plans and more, visit redcross.org/mn/homefires.
Download the free Red Cross First Aid App at redcross.org/apps to get access to life-saving information on what to do for common, everyday first aid emergencies including burns.
By empowering local volunteers, the American Red Cross can fulfill its mission to prevent and alleviate suffering in the face of emergencies. Become a Red Cross volunteer in your community, visit redcross.org/mn.
How you can help
The Minnesota Region of the American Red Cross responds to more than 600 disasters every year, most are home fires. You can help people affected by disasters like home fires and countless other crises by donating to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org/mn, call 1 (800) RED CROSS, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to the American Red Cross serving Southeast Minnesota, 310 14th St. S.E., Rochester, Minn. 55904.
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation’s blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission.
The American Red Cross serving Southeast Minnesota serves more than 520,000 people in Le Sueur, Rice, Goodhue, Wabasha, Winona, Fillmore, Olmsted, Mower, Dodge, Steele, Waseca, and Freeborn counties. For more information, please visit redcross.org/mn Like us on Facebook: American Red Cross serving Southeast Minnesota