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By Mark Rogers

The Lowndes Signal

A program that could help save lives from fires in Lowndes County was discussed at Monday’s Commission meeting.

TaWanna D. Robbins, disaster program manager from the American Red Cross in Montgomery addressed the Lowndes County Commission about the importance of smoke detectors and spoke about a program to distribute smoke detectors to residents.

“One of the things we do day-to-day is our home fire campaign,” Robbins said. “The No. 1 fatality incident in the home across the nation is related to fires. We have an initiative going on called the ‘Sound The Alarm Campaign.’  The mission is to reduced the number of fire-related fatalities by 25 percent by 2020.”

To date, the program has helped save nearly 600 lives by reaching out in commu-nities and installing free smoke alarms, according to Robbins.

“This is a free initiative,” she said. “You wont’ be asked for money or donations. The only thing we asked is that you allow the volunteers to come in and talked to you about creating a fire safety plan and also teaching you how to make sure your alarm is working.”

It’s a year-round program, according to Robbins, who brought a case of smoke alarms to the meeting with her.

“If you know of anyone that needs a smoke alarm, especially elderly people, please let us know,” she said.

Robbins left some alarms with County Engineer David Butts as well as forms to sign up.

For more about the program, visit www.redcross.org/alabama