It’s time to change your smoke alarm batteries
Daylight-saving time — which ended Nov. 4 — is traditionally a time of year when people change the batteries in their home smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. If you haven’t changed those batteries yet, our firefighters urge you to do this now.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, 38 percent of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms, while 24 percent resulted from fires in homes in which smoke alarms were present, but did not operate.
In addition to changing the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detector, firefighters urge you to:
- Test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors monthly to make sure they are working.
- Have at least one working smoke alarm on each level of your home.
- Plan, discuss and practice an escape route with your family for dangerous situations such as home fires, carbon monoxide leaks and natural disasters.
- Maintain your smoke alarms. If your smoke alarm is making a chirping sound, don’t ignore it. Chirping means it’s time to change the battery or replace the detector.
- Install a carbon monoxide detector if you don’t have one. Smoke alarms are NOT substitutes for carbon monoxide alarms.
Published Nov. 7, 2012