‘Sound the Alarm; Save a Life’

HURON — For the fourth year in a row, the American Red Cross in Huron is partnering with the Huron Fire Department to install smoke alarms in homes in a designated area.
On Saturday May 12, smoke alarm installation teams will canvass the southwest area of town, between Third and Ninth Streets, and from Dakota to Lincoln Avenues, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Teams should have installation completed by 2:30 p.m.  
Huron is one of the communities across the country participating in the Red Cross national campaign “Sound The Alarm. Save a Life.”  
Over the next few days canvassers from Center for Independence, The Boy Scouts, fitness walkers organized by Rhonda Kludt, plus Red Cross volunteers, will place door hangers on the homes in the designated area to announce the program so homeowners will be alerted to the event. Over the course of only 16 days – from April 28 to May 13 – the goal for volunteers and partners across the nation is to install 100,000 free smoke alarms across the country.
The Huron Fire Department and the Red Cross have partnered since 2015. The north end of town was completed in the first two years and last year the Southeast side of town was completed, up to 9th Street.  

Since the start of this partnership, a total of 823 alarms have been installed in Beadle County, making homes safer for 772 people. During the canvass event last spring on the South East part of town, 247 alarms were installed in 102 homes.
The command center for this year’s event on Saturday, May 12 is the Huron Community Campus Center.
The smoke alarm installations of the HFD and ARC are now including smaller surrounding communities.  Last fall, the team added Cavour in collaboration with their volunteer fire department and the town of Cavour.  More communities will be targeted this fall.
A critical part of the campaign is Sound the Alarm, a series of home fire safety and smoke alarm installation events across the country.
The Huron Red Cross seeks several volunteers to team up with a firefighter to educate homeowners and residents on fire prevention and response. While in the home, teams also provide education on fire safety, home escape plans and tornado preparation. If you are able to assist in this year’s canvass, call Charlotte Henley at 352-4306
If you are not in the canvass area but would still like your smoke alarms in your home evaluated and/or installed register at getasmokealarm.org
This program is possible thanks to the generous donors who support the American Red Cross including the generosity of the Heartland United Way. Other donors to help support the campaign and feed the volunteers include Dakota Provisions, Coborn’s, The Donut Shoppe, Wal-Mart, Subway and City of Huron Parks and Recreation.  

ROGER LARSEN/PLAINSMAN file photo
Ray Sorensen of the Red Cross in Sioux Falls talks with volunteers before they head out to install free smoke detectors in Huron at last year’s event. Below, Huron firefighter Chad Crandall installs a smoke alarm Saturday as part of a Red Cross Home Fire Prevention Campaign.