PORTLAND, Maine - According to the American Red Cross, more people in the U.S. die in house fires each year than every other type of natural disaster combined. In Maine, 2014 was a particularly bad year - 25 people died in 14 different fires.
The state fire marshal believes most of those deaths could have been prevented - if only the homes had working smoke detectors. A new Red Cross initiative aims to dramatically reduce the number of such fire deaths in the future.
Debbie Joensen and Red Cross volunteer Jeff Ohman are standing in a bedroom in her Old Orchard Beach home, staring at a wall, and talking about where a smoke detector should be placed.
"Generally, want it, like, 4 to 12 inches down from the ceiling, not in a corner, so I thought here would be a good spot - is that fine?" asks Ohman.
"Absolutely, yep," Joensen responds.
"OK, then I'll mount one there," Ohman says. "Good."
After that's all set, Debbie sits down at her kitchen table with another volunteer, Ron Springel. "My name is Ron," he says. "I'm a volunteer with the American Red Cross, and we're here to talk with you today about the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign."
Jeff and Ron are at this home as part of an ambitious new effort - the Red Cross wants to reduce the number of fire deaths in the U.S. by 25 percent in the next five years.
They're going door-to-door with an educational campaign that includes installation of free, working smoke detectors in strategic locations around the house.
At the kitchen table, Ron and Debbie discuss a fire safety checklist and an evacuation plan. Debbie draws a diagram of her house and describes where her family would meet up in an emergency.
"Meet at the parking lot behind my car," Debbie says. "And then call 911 - so you call when you get out of the house. Right?" Ron says. "Yup. No messing around. Out the door," she says.
Evidence shows that once a fire starts, people have about two minutes to get out of their homes. That's much less time than most people think.
John Lamb, communications director with the Maine Chapter of the American Red Cross, says a recent survey shows most people think they have five minutes to get out.
"So the most important thing is you have a working smoke alarm that alerts you to a fire," Lamb says, "and you have an escape plan that you practice and you use that to get out of the house as quickly as possible."
The Red Cross has been working with the state fire marshal to determine which areas of which towns are most at risk of fatal fires. They have already targeted neighborhoods in Biddeford and Lewiston, and are planning to hit parts of Portland, Auburn, Caribou and Presque Isle soon.
Both men here today signed up for this effort after volunteering for the Red Cross in other capacities for years. Jeff is part of a Disaster Action Team. "It definitely is right up my alley because I do like to install things," he says. "I'm handy enough to do that kind of stuff and it's a big help for them. And this is a great way to save lives, too, so it's kind of rewarding."
Ron used to work in emergency care, and on a burn unit. "My feeling was if we can prevent one person from ending up in a burn unit, it'd be very worthwhile," he says. "And, of course, it can go way beyond that. We had way too many fire deaths in Maine last year. Last year was a terrible year."
This campaign isn't complicated. In fact, it couldn't be simpler: Find homes that need smoke detectors, and install them. "The longest journey begins with one step," says Ron Springel. "This really is one smoke detector at a time. It's one person at a time, one screw at a time to install one detector at a time, to save one life at a time. And that's really where we have to begin."
The Red Cross hopes to install 1,000 smoke detectors in Maine homes by the end of the fiscal year - and even more next year.
Fire preparedness and the Red Cross campaign will be the topic on Maine Calling Tuesday, Jan. 20, at noon on MPBN Radio.
