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Red Cross outlines county fire-response services, names Tifton as site for March smoke-alarm blitz
Summary
Jackie Shoemaker of the American Red Cross told the Tift County Board that the Red Cross responded to about 520 county fire calls in 2025, installed 26 smoke alarms last year and will mount a ‘Sound the Alarm’ smoke-alarm blitz in Tifton on March 21 with roughly 35–40 volunteers.
Jackie Shoemaker, executive director of the American Red Cross covering 25 counties in south‑central Georgia, briefed the Tift County Board of Commissioners on the organization’s disaster‑response and preparedness programs during the meeting’s public‑comment period.
Shoemaker told the board the Red Cross operates five lines of service and distributed resource folders for commissioners and residents. “We actually have five lines of service,” she said, and urged fire departments and residents to use the Red Cross referral phone number and flyers provided to the board.
She said the Red Cross responded to about 520 fire calls in the county during 2025 and that volunteers installed 26 smoke alarms in Tift County last year. The Red Cross will hold a national "Sound the Alarm" smoke‑alarm blitz in Tifton on March 21, coordinating with the Tifton Fire Department; Shoemaker said the effort will mobilize roughly 35 to 40 volunteers to install alarms and distribute preparedness information in a targeted neighborhood.
Shoemaker described training the Red Cross offers: free hands‑only CPR, free disaster‑preparedness classes for varying ages, and fee‑based certification CPR/AED classes. She said the certification classes are typically offered in a hybrid format (online fundamentals followed by an in‑person skills demonstration of about 90 minutes) and noted that third‑party trainers sometimes charge about $75 per person for certificate courses.
She also outlined Red Cross work for service members and veterans, including emergency communication for families when a deployed service member experiences a crisis and programs to reconnect families separated by crisis. Shoemaker closed by inviting additional questions and offering contact information in the distributed packet.
The Red Cross materials given to the board include stat sheets and flyers with local contact details and instructions for first responders and residents to request assistance.
