10/05/2026
Carol awoke at 2 a.m. to an unimaginable scene unfolding in front of her. She was trapped in a room with smoke burning her nose and flames licking at the door. Unable to leave through her bedroom door, she climbed out her window and escaped from the third floor down an already burning fire escape. With singed hair and bare feet firmly planted on the cold ground, she stood across the street feeling like she was “watching her whole life burn away.”
In her most vulnerable moment, Carol recalled watching an American Red Cross volunteer arrive. “The volunteer showed up at dawn when it was still freezing cold, just as the sun was coming up. The scene was like a movie in my mind. She came to me, wrapped me in a blanket and gave me warm clothing.”
Carol was inspired by the volunteer’s service that night. She remembers one thing vividly after all these years: “None of the stuff you have matters. The people do. I want to help people in trouble, and the Red Cross is a good place to go.”
During Fire Prevention Week, observed October 4–10, the Red Cross encourages everyone to take action to protect their loved ones from the threat of home fires. The reality is sobering: home fires claim seven lives every day in the U.S. but having working smoke alarms can cut the risk of death by half.
Here are a few ways to make sure your household is prepared:
1. Install smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. If you or a loved one is deaf or hard of hearing, install strobe light and bed-shaker alarms.
2. Test your alarms once a month and change the batteries at least once a year, if required. Replace smoke alarms that are 10 years or older.
3. Practice your two-minute home fire escape drill. Make sure that everyone in your household knows two ways to escape each room and has a designated meeting spot at a safe distance. Once you get out, stay out.
Learn more about how to protect your home and loved ones at redcross.org/fire.
Pictured: October 20, 1957 newspaper clippings of the 4-alarm fire that took place on Fell St.
Credit: The San Francisco Examiner // Archives
