MERIDIAN, Idaho — The Red Cross has plans to install smoke alarms in around 150 mobile homes in Meridian.
Friday and Saturday, dozens of volunteers will go door-to-door, installing fire alarms, speaking with homeowners about fire safety, and helping them plan escape routes in their homes.
“That’s going to protect a lot of lives," said Dennis Hamrick, who owns a home in the Fairview Mobile Home Park. "If the incident does happen, it’s like a chain reaction here. It'd be like a domino effect. [Mobile homes] go up in eight minutes. That’s how fast they go up [in flames].”
Hamrick is a retired firefighter with the Forest Service, so he takes his fire safety very seriously.
About seven people a day die from house fires, and the Red Cross says you only have around two minutes to escape a house fire safely.
Hamrick had the Red Cross install a special type of smoke detector for his father. One that is designed for people who are hearing impaired and features a louder alert alarm and an accompanying strobe light.
For more information about home fire safety, visit the Red Cross website.
