The American Red Cross home fire safety campaign continues in the Poconos and across the country to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent over the next five years.

In Carbon County, the Red Cross is partnering with the Lehighton Fire Department for this life-saving program.The Red Cross will be in Lehighton this weekend following the tragic fire on South First Street in late October that claimed the life of a 7-month-old baby.Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire. So the Red Cross campaign focuses on joining fire departments and community groups nationwide to install smoke alarms in communities with high numbers of fires and encouraging everyone to practice their fire escape plans.The Red Cross will be going door-to-door in this part of Lehighton on Friday to let people know about the upcoming project.Volunteers will be meeting at the Carbon County Action Committee building at 1 p.m. and then will head out into the neighborhood.Crews will be meeting again from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday to install smoke alarms in homes that need them and teach people about what they can do now to be prepared should a fire break out in their home.Those interested in volunteering to assist with the smoke alarm installations can meet at the Lehighton Fire Department, 132 South 3rd Street, at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday for some training with Red Cross staff. Please RSVP to Destinee Harper at 570-476-3800 or

destinee.harper@redcross.org if you plan on attending. A wrap up and thank you event will be held at the fire department around 5 p.m.Joining the Red Cross will be firefighters from the Lehighton Fire Department and volunteers from other community organizations.