After the lack of smoke alarms led to the tragic death of five family members in a house fire, the City of New Orleans realized that it needed to do more to prevent these types of incidents.  Using free, publicly accessible data from the American Community Survey (ACS), local officials identified “houses that were least likely to have a smoke alarm and most likely to have a fatality through a fire.”

Check out the U.S. Census Bureau’s newest Stats in Action video to learn how collaboration between the City of New Orleans Office of Performance and Accountability and the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) is saving lives by figuring out where to target smoke alarm installations in the community.  According to NOFD Chief Tim McConnell, “If you can prevent one person from losing their life, it makes this program worthwhile.”

You can also let us know how you use ACS data by sharing your story online using #ACSdata.