The American Red Cross wants us all to be better prepared for a fire. 

October is National Fire Prevention Month and with winter on the way, officials are reminding people to can call a local Red Cross chapter to inquire about the "Sound the Alarm" program to get a free smoke alarm installed in their homes.

This is the time of year when more fires occur and the Red Cross urges families to have an escape plan ready in the event of a house fire. 

"You need to have two ways out of every room.  If you're on the second story of a house, do you have a way to get out through a window?  Have one of those fire ladders through a roof?  You need to really figure it out, because during a fire you have less than two minutes so that's not the time to be doing your game plan,” said Emily Patch, a disaster program specialist with the American Red Cross of Central New York.

For more information about the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign or how to get a smoke detector, go to www.redcross.org.