CHANGE YOUR CLOCK CHANGE YOUR BATTERY

Help save lives in our community,

Remind your family, friends, and neighbors

To adopt a simple lifesaving change.

A home fire impacts the life of a family every 85 seconds. It is a fact, that working smoke alarms can double your family’s chance of getting out of a home fire alive by providing the early warning and critical extra seconds needed to escape. Although smoke alarms are present in 96 percent of homes, 23 percent do not work, mostly because of dead or missing batteries. 

So, when you turn your clocks back on October 30, make a lifesaving change in your household—change the batteries in your smoke alarms.  

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most people are sleeping.  Eighty percent of fire deaths involving children occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Tragically, many people mistakenly believe they will be awakened by the smell of smoke in time to escape.   Clinical experiments have found that the sense of smell actually lessens when people are asleep.  Therefore, when smoke enters a bedroom, it does not always awaken the individual. In addition, smoke disorients people and dulls their senses, making it less likely that other cues, such as cries for help, will awaken them.  This is why working home smoke alarms are so important. 

Installing Smoke Alarms

You should have a smoke alarm on every level of your home.  Make sure there is an alarm in or near every sleeping area.  Mount smoke alarms high on ceilings or walls—remember, smoke rises.  Ceiling-mounted alarms should be installed at least four inches away from the nearest wall; wall-mounted alarms should be installed four to 12 inches away from the ceiling.  Don’t install smoke alarms near windows, outside doors, or ducts where drafts might interfere with their operation. 

People with hearing impairments should install smoke alarms with louder alarm signals and or strobe lights to alert them to a fire.  Be sure the smoke alarm carries the label of an independent testing laboratory.

Fire Safety Measures

ü      Make sure the smoke alarms work by pushing the test button. Test your smoke alarms at least once a month.

ü      Clean the smoke alarms by vacuuming them regularly.

ü      Check flashlight batteries and place a working flashlight near all beds to help family members signal for help in a fire.

ü      Plan and rehearse two escape routes during a fire, and select a meeting place for family members outside the home.

ü      Replace smoke alarms every ten years.

Now in its 18^th year, Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® is a national home fire safety program sponsored by Energizer® Max® brand batteries and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), with more than 5,800 fire departments participating nationwide.  This program urges residents to change smoke alarm batteries when changing their clocks back to standard time, which occurs this year on Sunday, October 30.