ARC gives safety tips to prevent home fire

A two-story house located along Anita Avenue in Chalan Kanoa was completely destroyed after the fire. Wilfredo “Boy” Ching and his family have been staying the house for 18 years. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Beverly Camacho and Claudine Atalig, both volunteers of the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter, responded to a home fire on Anita Avenue in Chalan Kanoa early Tuesday morning.

The Red Cross provided immediate emergency needs for food clothing and shelter.

In total, five families (comprising 18 individuals) were assisted by the American Red Cross, including the occupants of the dwellings that were destroyed by the fire, as well as residents near the incident who were unable to remain in their homes due to toxic smoke in the area.

“We’re deeply saddened for those who were impacted by these fires,” said J.D. Tenorio, the Emergency Services director for the NMI Chapter of the American Red Cross. “As we continue to help them, we urge everyone to take steps to minimize the risk of a fire occurring in their home.”

Home fire campaign

Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire. The Red Cross has been working to reduce that number through its Home Fire Campaign, a multi-year effort to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent. Launched in October of 2014, the campaign has already saved many lives and installed hundreds of thousands of smoke alarms in nearly 10,000 cities and towns.

Here in the CNMI, the Red Cross has installed nearly 500 smoke alarms throughout Saipan, Tinian, and Rota since October of 2017. The Red Cross will continue its efforts throughout this year visiting neighborhoods and installing more smoke alarms on all three the islands.

Simple steps to save lives

The Red Cross is calling on everyone to take two simple steps that can save lives: practice fire drills at home and check existing smoke alarms.

There are several things families and individuals can do to increase their chances of surviving a fire:

-If someone doesn’t have smoke alarms, install them. At a minimum, put one on every level of the 
home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Local building codes vary and there may be 
additional requirements where someone lives. 


-If someone does have alarms, test them today. If they don’t work, replace them. 


-Make sure that everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of 
the home in less than two minutes. 


Practice the fire escape plan. What’s the household’s escape time? 


Red Cross apps

People can download the all-inclusive Red Cross Emergency app, which combines more than 35 emergency alerts to help keep the user safe.

And there is a special mobile app—Monster Guard—designed for children, teaching them to prepare for emergencies at home by playing an engaging game. Users can find the apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps.

What people can do

People can visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more about how to protect themselves and their loved homes from fire.

They can become a Red Cross volunteer by contacting the local chapter office at (670) 234-3459 or by visiting our website at www.redcross.org/nmi.

They can also help by donating to Red Cross disaster relief by visiting redcross.org. Donations to disaster relief will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

We respond to nearly 64,000 other disasters every year and most of these are home fires. (ARC)