During 2014, the American Red Cross helped more people affected by home fires than all other disasters combined.
As illustrated in this infographic, Americans’ biggest disaster threat isn’t from tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, but home fires.
HOME FIRES BY THE NUMBERS
Nearly every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster in the community and about 93 percent of these are home fires.
Volunteers in 12,500 communities across the nation responded at all hours of the day with food, blankets and comfort to help more than 211,000 people with nowhere else to turn after home fires this year.
The Red Cross also provided financial support to tens of thousands of households after home fires to help replace lost belongings and begin the long road to recovery.
HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN
Red Cross volunteers are helping to save lives through a campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent over the next five years.
Since the campaign launched in October, organizers already have reached more than 29,000 people by installing more than 17,000 smoke alarms.
For information, visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.