Red Cross volunteers install smoke alarms in Columbia neighborhood

Saturday, Red Cross volunteers installed free smoke alarms in Columbia homes.

About 20 volunteers from the Mizzou Red Cross Club and community volunteers from all over Mid-Missouri knocked on about 100 doors in central Columbia.

Volunteers also changed batteries and educated families on fire safety.

The Red Cross said the Columbia Fire Department helped choose which neighborhoods to go to first that have more fires than others.

“When a fire starts, it doubles, approximately doubles every minute, so early warning is critical for getting that family out of the home,” Kath Mayne with the American Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri said. “And most of the time what a lot of Red Cross volunteers spend our time doing is responding to single family fires.”

Mayne said volunteers will continue installing free smoke alarms in Columbia throughout the summer.