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The day-long event included a continental breakfast, provided by Dunkin Donuts and an extraordinary lunch buffet hosted by Taste of South Africa, said Danbury Fire Department Spokesman James Gagliardo.
During the day, teams of volunteers made visits to homes, shared fire safety and preparedness information and installed smoke alarms. Volunteers helped families understand the importance of fire safety and helped them develop personalized family escape plans to use in the event of a fire.
In total 198 smoke alarms were installed with several more appointment requests being called in and processed. For homes with up to date functioning alarms, volunteer crews tested and replaced numerous old or non-functioning batteries, Gagliardo said.
Studies show that 60 percent of house fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms.
“Home fires are the biggest disaster threat faced in the U.S., said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut, and Rhode Island Region. "On average, in our region, we respond to about two home fires each day.”
Some of the hard-working volunteers included American Red Cross, CT/RI Region: Mario Bruno, CEO, and Neil McGurk, regional director along with Danbury Fire Chief T.J. Wiedl and Deputy Fire Marshal Terry Timan. Western Connecticut State University, Assistant Dean Daryle Dennis with students from the WCSU Inter-Cultural Center were also on hand to lend their services.
To help or donate to the Red Cross, visit www.redcross.org/homefires.
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