By Danica Lawrence
SALT LAKE CITY -- Two recent house fires broke out in Sandy and West Jordan, and according to local firefighters and the Red Cross, neither residence had working smoke alarms.
The Red Cross is teaming up with volunteers with Smith's Food and Drug to install free smoke alarms in as many homes as possible.
They went door-to-door Thursday and installed dozens of them in Salt Lake City, but they are also campaigning nationally. The Red Cross plans to cut down on deaths and injuries related to house fires by 25 percent.
One Salt Lake City family only had one smoke alarm upstairs, and the Red Cross said you must have at least one detector on every story in your home.
“It is so important to me because of these girls,” said Mickie Bench, a grandmother to three young girls. “If there is any protection we can do, then we should take action on it.”
The Red Cross said it responds to 70,000 house fires a year and two to three house fires a week here in Utah. For more information about the American Red Cross and the resources and volunteer opportunities they provide in Utah, visit their website.
