Change the time, change the batteries

It is time to change your clocks this weekend, as Sunday, November 2 marks the end of Daylight Saving Time. But while you are at it, do not forget to change the batteries in your smoke alarms.

The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission is reminding consumers that putting fresh batteries in your smoke alarms can verily save your life.

In recent years, the annual average of fire incidence in the country is estimated at 378,700 fires. Overall, fire claims 2,740 lives each year and injures 13,090 people. Property losses due to residential fires alone total $5.6 billion a year.

On the average, two children die each day in the U.S. as a result of home fires. The sad thing is that 4 out of 5 of these deaths happen in homes where the smoke alarms were not working at the time of the fire.

Smoke alarms are fire safety devices specifically designed to help protect your home. But the devices can never help if they are not working, and the most common cause of non-working smoke alarms is simply spent or missing batteries.

By making sure you change your smoke alarm batteries at least once a year, you give your family the simplest and most effective fighting chance to prevent tragic deaths and painful injuries.

Fire departments across the country say that working smoke alarms reduce the risk of deaths in a home fire by nearly 50 percent.

Home fires occurring between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. are the most likely to have fatalities. This is the time when families are sleeping. During these times, children and senior citizens are the most vulnerable. Working smoke alarms can give them the precious seconds that might spell the difference between being able or unable to get out of the house in time.

The CPSC recommends that you install two types of smoke alarms: ionization and photoelectric. The ionization type is able to detect flaming fires more quickly; the photoelectric type can detect smoldering fires faster.

The CPSC is very succinct about it: “Smoke alarms save lives.”

Safety Tips:

* Have enough smoke alarms. There should be at least one alarm on every level of the house. Have alarms in outside sleeping areas, and also inside each bedroom.

* Replace batteries every Fall and Spring when you change clocks. Make sure to test the alarms at this time, too.

* Test smoke alarms every month to be certain they are working properly.

* Replace smoke alarm units after 8-10 years.

* Install smoke alarms at least 10 feet away from the stove and oven. This will minimize nuisance alarms.

* Never disable a smoke alarm.