NAMPA, Idaho — Every day, seven people die from house fires. To try to reduce those numbers, the Red Cross has launched its annual "Sound the Alarm" campaign.
In Nampa, more than 100 volunteers, along with Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling, the Nampa Fire Department and the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho teamed up to install 600 smoke alarms to people who live in some of Nampa’s at-risk communities, which included senior citizens and Latino neighborhoods for free.
“People are the crux of our community, it's wonderful to see the high school, businesses, the other non-profits, city council members and community members from across Nampa to make a difference in others lives,” Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling said.
High school junior, Diamond Tschida is one of the Red Cross' student volunteers.
"It's greater than words to be able to be here and help people like this," she said. "I decided to take part in this because I think it's an amazing opportunity to be able to help people out and help people install fire alarms if they're unable to."
Tschida and Kirk Carpenter, the Nampa Fire Chief, understand the importance of Friday's efforts.
"If you remember as kids we sometimes took the batteries out so we can power our cars and we forget that we're disabling the most important safety device in our home," Carpenter said.
Volunteers at Friday's event highlight the value of ensuring that people have working smoke alarms.
"It's imperative that people have working smoke alarms in their house," Barbara Weber, one of the Red Cross volunteers, said. "Generally, you have about 2 minutes to escape a burning house."
The installation of 600 smoke alarms could potentially save lives.
"Every opportunity we have to intervene in these type of emergencies, especially in house fires, second count, minutes are of even greater value to us," Carpenter said.