‘Sound the Alarm’ kicks off with events in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties

By Alana Mauger

The American Red Cross Sound the Alarm campaign got off to a good start in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with three successful events leading up to the May 3rd signature event in Philadelphia. The month-long initiative runs April 6-May 5, 2024.

The Red Cross kicked off the campaign in Newtown Gate – a Bucks County community that experienced two fatal home fires since February 2023. On April 6th, Red Cross and community volunteers joined Newtown Fire and Rescue to make 105 homes safer. The teams installed 295 free smoke alarms and provided fire safety education to 212 residents.

Check out our Newtown Sound the Alarm photo album on Flickr

Next, a small but mighty group of Red Crossers took to Stotesbury Estates in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County – a community that experienced a fatal home fire in January 2024. On April 10th, the teams visited 25 houses, mostly by appointment, installing 102 smoke alarms and providing fire safety education to 50 people.

Check out our Wyndmoor Sound the Alarm photo album on Flickr

Most recently, the Red Cross partnered with the Upper Darby Fire Department and MIRA USA on April 20th to bring Sound the Alarm to the Cardington, Upper Darby neighborhood in Delaware County. Here, the teams installed 229 smoke alarms and provided fire safety education to 285 people, making a total of 77 homes safer.

Check out our Upper Darby Sound the Alarm photo album on Flickr

Red Crossers are familiar with the Upper Darby community. The smoke alarms installed and education provided during a Sound the Alarm event in the Stonehurst neighborhood in May 2022 actually saved a family of three who experienced a home fire last year. Thanks to the work of Red Cross volunteers, the working smoke alarms alerted the family to the fire, and they knew to get out, and stay out of the home. At least three lives were saved!

The region’s signature Sound the Alarm event will take place on Friday, May 3 in the East Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. The kickoff will be at Awbury Recreation Center starting at 10 a.m. Visit our website to learn more.

Sound the Alarm is part of the year-round Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has installed more than 21,000 lifesaving smoke alarms in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties and more than 2.5 million smoke alarms nationwide since 2014. The campaign has also saved at least 1,749 lives nationwide, including 27 in Southeastern Pennsylvania.