BATON ROUGE - More than 75 volunteers joined the Red Cross and Baton Rouge Fire Department to hand out free smoke detectors to people living in the Avenues area of Scotlandville on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Most of the volunteers came from Southern University and Greater King David Baptist Church in order to make sure more than 195 homes in the Avenues were prepared in case of a house fire.

During the course of the day the Red Cross said 155 smoke alarms were installed for people living in the area, and fire safety information was given to everyone they visited.

The Red Cross provides housing and other assistance for families who lose their homes to a fire. Volunteers said the free alarms and information are especially needed during the recent cold weather.

If you would like to help the Red Cross, donations can be made at their website, by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.