Red Cross members, first responders and volunteers installed smoke detectors in dozens of homes Saturday, amidst a major effort by the Red Cross to push back against high regional fire risk.

Mitch Housden, fire services specialist with the Aberdeen Fire Department, said Saturday, a follow-up from last week’s canvassing efforts, was a success.

“Overall it went really well. People were very receptive for the program,” Housden said. “We had a handful of scattered around requests which we’re handling.”

Focusing on western Aberdeen and eastern Hoquiam, where there’s been a concentration of fires, members of both departments, as well as personnel from the police departments and other volunteers, followed up with homes that indicated a need during sweeps last week.

Members of the effort installed 143 free smoke alarms in 57 homes, said Betsy Robertson, the communications director for the Red Cross’s Northwest region, who helped coordinate the effort.

“We had a great day. We had about 30 volunteers overall,” Robertson said. “We had a handful of Spanish speakers to help us with translation.”

Volunteers concentrated their efforts where they’d be most useful, Robertson said.

“We identified neighborhoods and homes that didn’t have smoke alarms,” Robertson said. “There were a number of households that I left feeling much better about their chances of escaping if a fire broke out.”

The Red Cross will hold another similar event in the spring, Robertson said.

“We typically do these in April,” Robertson said. “We have not set a date yet.”

Anyone seeking to have a smoke detector installed but who missed the sweeps can contact Housden at afss@aberdeenwa.gov.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.

Larry Bleich Red Cross personnel and local first responders helped install smoke detectors on Oct. 21 as part of a push against the region’s high fire risk.