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Red Cross To Install Free Smoke Alarms Saturday

 Red Cross volunteers and community leaders will give out free smoke alarms Saturday.
Red Cross volunteers and community leaders will give out free smoke alarms Saturday.
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AUBURN GRESHAM — Volunteers from the American Red Cross and other community groups will go door-to-door and install hundreds of free smoke alarms this weekend.

“Home fires are tragic and devastating to those who experience them and communities on the South Side are some of the highest response areas where our volunteers are called to help in the city of Chicago,” said Celena Roldán, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois.

“Our volunteers will be checking that homes have working smoke alarms and if not we will install them free of charge. Our aim is to arm as many families as possible with these safety measures to help save lives,” she said.

The volunteers will also educate residents about fire safety. The teams will meet Saturday at 9 a.m. at the St. Sabina Employment Resource Center, 7825 S. Racine Ave.

Along with the Red Cross, other volunteers include the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, and elected officials including Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th)  Ald. Howard Brookings, Jr. (21st), Ald. David Moore (17th), State Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago).

Locally, the Red Cross will install more than 6,600 smoke alarms in Chicago and communities across Northern Illinois in the coming months.

The campaign is a multi-year effort to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent. Working with fire departments and community groups across the country, the Red Cross is installing smoke alarms in homes in neighborhoods at high risk for fires and teaching residents about fire prevention and preparedness.

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