Bill Ritter on 'Operation 7: Save a Life'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- One death from a fire is one too many. Few things are more important than slashing the number of people who die from fire. And the key to saving your life - and the lives of people you love - is to be prepared.

That mantra is the key to our annual Operation 7 Save-a-Life campaign, which kicks off this month. My honor to host this campaign since its inception at WABC-TV in 1999. In fact, it's one of the most important things I do for Eyewitness News. And it's especially significant this year as the FDNY celebrates its 150th anniversary.

We have saved lives, no question. Through our partners - Kidde, the FDNY and other fire departments throughout the Tri-State, Home Depot, Toyota and the Hearst Burn Unit at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center - we have given out hundreds of thousands of Kidde smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, free, to people who otherwise can't afford them.

And that has saved lives. And what greater public service is there than that?

We'll do it again this month - and it includes a half-hour special, on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m. -- a program that offers some very important information -- about how to survive an emergency and how to be prepared for one.

I hope you can watch - and watch with people you love. Because if you can learn just one thing that can save a life, then all that we do in this campaign is worth it. Because one death from fire, is one too many.

• Operation 7 Live Chat: Coming up January 21st - share your questions with our experts!
• Find out more about our special half hour, airing January 24th at 7:00 p.m.

-*-