On Saturday, Red Cross volunteers canvased the streets to replace or install working smoke detectors in homes across the Rochester area.

"Every second counts. The first step is the smoke alarms, working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a house fire in half," said Jay Bonafede of the American Red Cross.

Volunteers did door knocks to check on homes while also completing pre-scheduled appointments to make sure that every household was equipped with these life-saving devices.

"We ask them if they have any smoke alarms yet. If we do, they test them. If they need a new battery, we will replace that. If they're getting to be close to or over 10 years old, we have to replace them entirely because the sniffers on the smoke alarms stop being reliable after 10 years," said volunteer Gregory Langen.

"For the most part they've signed up for a reason. They want somebody to come check and help them out," said Bonafede.

"Prevention. Smoke detectors are number one, and a safe route out of the house is also very important," said Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo.

For the Red Cross, evacuation comes down to the number two.

"Two exits out of every room in the home, practice twice a year until everyone in the home can do it in under two minutes," said Bonafede.

Residents also received tools to help them create customized evacuation plans, along with preventative materials.

"We like to avoid the fires from starting in the first place so we have a whole checklist of things, the things that we see that most commonly cause house fires, we educate people about," said Langen.

"It's all about safety and preparedness for the people in the community of Monroe," said Dinolfo.