2025 CAUSE FOR ALARM IMPACT
Every Second Counts: Kidde Brings Fire Escape Planning to Life with Augmented Reality.
Cause For Alarm™ is Kidde's ongoing fire and carbon monoxide safety awareness initiative addressing gaps in education and access to home safety measures.
Since its launch in 2022, the campaign has reached families through art, music, and community partnerships — all in service of a single goal: helping every household be ready before a fire or CO emergency ever starts. For its fourth year, Kidde focused on one of the most overlooked steps in home fire safety: having an escape plan and practicing it. Then we took it to the next level and made it more accessible than ever through groundbreaking technology. In 2025, Kidde donated a total retail value of $2,571,128 of home safety products (i.e., smoke alarms, CO alarms, combo alarms, fire extinguishers).
Closing the Preparation Gap
When a fire breaks out, families may have two minutes or less to escape safely (NFPA), yet only 26% of American families have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan1. To close that gap, Kidde launched a first-of-its-kind augmented reality (AR) fire drill simulator: Prepare. Plan. Practice.
Free, interactive, and available in the U.S. in both English and Spanish (and Canada in English and French-Canadian), the tool lets users visualize a fire emergency in their own home using just a smartphone or tablet with an internet connection — no downloads required. Through virtual fire simulation, gamified learning, and guided escape planning, Prepare. Plan. Practice. helps build the essential knowledge needed to react quickly when every second counts.
Upon completion, users are directed to a central Safety Hub with links to additional fire and CO safety information and tools.
The experience features three distinct modes:
Recognized by Fire Safety Leaders
The Prepare. Plan. Practice. tool was well-received by leading fire safety organizations, including the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM), underscoring its strong alignment with national fire safety initiatives.
"NFPA recognizes the importance of innovative fire safety education, like Kidde's AR tool. This exciting and educational technology aligns with our mission to help save lives and reduce loss through information, knowledge, and passion, by engaging families in critical fire safety education." — Kelly Ransdell, Director of Public Education, NFPA
"The National Association of State Fire Marshals commends Kidde's innovative AR Tool as a crucial advancement in fire safety education. This engaging technology provides an accessible and impactful way for families to understand the importance of fire safety planning, reinforcing our goal to help prevent tragedies and protect lives." — Chief H. Butch Browning, Executive Director, NASFM
Bringing the Campaign Into Communities
To champion fire and CO safety beyond the screen, Kidde partnered with iHeartMedia and The Home Depot to host home safety events across the country which combined education, alarm donations, and community collaboration to help make every home a safer home. Kidde also joined forces with singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc for a special, private Cause For Alarm event in Los Angeles, underscoring the importance of preparedness and honoring the heroic first responders who battled recent wildfires.
"Living in Southern California, we're all too familiar with the threat of wildfires, and I've seen firsthand how communities come together to support each other and our heroic first responders. That danger doesn't stop at our doorstep; being prepared for a fire inside your home is just as critical."
— Aloe Blacc, singer-songwriter
Try It and Get Involved
Families were invited to visit CauseForAlarm.org to try the Prepare. Plan. Practice. tool and access a full suite of fire safety resources, including Kidde's Fire Safety Toolkit in English and Spanish.