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We’re Out to Alarm
The We’re Out to Alarm Texas campaign was created to help prevent loss of life and property by providing Texans with smoke alarms to help alert them to the danger of fire and smoke. The risk of dying in a house fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms. In its first year, our smoke alarm program saved both lives and property.
Initially, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) worked with the State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) to designate cities that had high fire fatalities. The program expanded to include other cities that learned of the program’s success and asked to be included. Fire departments must be willing to install donated smoke alarms into homes on a first come/first serve basis and report on the success of lives that have been saved. The program started in 2005 and has grown every year to include more than 20,000 smoke alarms donated to over 50 Texas fire departments.
Once a city agrees to participate in the program and local officials announce the availability of the smoke alarms, residents in each city must contact the local fire department to enroll. Firefighters will install the new alarms and inspect each home to make sure other smoke alarms are working properly and point out potential fire hazards. Each fire department keeps track of where they have installed the smoke alarms so that firefighters can determine if the alarms were instrumental in saving lives or property.
ICT thanks our member insurers and other partners who have provided financial support for We’re Out to Alarm Texas. They include The Travelers Companies, State Farm, the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas (AFACT), and First Alert.
“The smoke alarm campaign has not only saved lives, but we’ve help build a great working relationship between firefighters and their community,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas. “Insurance is often the silent partner in protecting a community and this program has proven to be just that.”
For more information about ICT’s We’re Out to Alarm Texas, contact Mark Hanna at 512-444-9611 or mhanna@insurancecouncil.org.
Watch a video on the life saving program below.
The National Fire Protection Association provides this additional information on the value of a working smoke alarm in your home: https://www.nfpa.org/public-education/by-topic/smoke-alarms.
