Now that daylight saving time has begun, the American Red Cross encourages everyone to test their smoke alarms to make sure the devices are working.
“Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half as you only have about two minutes to safely get out,” said Emily Holley, Regional Communications Manager for the Nebraska-Iowa Region. “Every second counts when there’s a home fire and the sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get to a safer place. When daylight saving time ends this weekend, test your smoke alarms to help prevent a tragedy in your home.”
In 2024, local Red Cross volunteers responded to help over 1,900 people in Iowa affected by 610 home fires, which account for most of the about 65,000 disasters that the Red Cross responds to annually across the country.
