Press release:
The City of Batavia Fire Department is joining nearly 6,000 fire departments nationwide in promoting the annual Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries campaign on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Fire Prevention Officer Lieutenant Jeff Whitcombe encourages all residents to adopt the simple, life-saving habit of changing smoke alarm batteries when they change their clocks back from daylight savings time to standard time.
“It’s an easy, inexpensive and proven way to protect your family and your home,” Lt. Whitcombe said.
Since 1987, the International Association of Fire Chiefs has joined forces with Energizer batteries to spread the message that non-working smoke alarms are responsible for needless death and injuries. Now 25 years later, thanks to the change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries campaign, home fire deaths continue to decline.
Recent surveys conducted for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Consumer Products Safety Commission found that 96 percent of all homes have at least one smoke alarm, but only 75 percent have at least one working smoke alarm. Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Smoke alarm failures usually result from missing or dead batteries or disconnected wires. The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most families are sleeping. A working smoke alarm can provide the critical extra seconds needed to get people out safely.
According to the NFPA, the maximum life cycle of a smoke alarm is 10 years from the date of manufacture, not the date of installation. Beginning in 2002, all smoke detectors must have a manufacture date marked on the outside of the smoke alarm. If your smoke alarm does not have a manufacture date, then it is older than 10 years and must be replaced. The City of Batavia Fire Department recommends purchasing smoke alarms with 10-year lithium batteries. All smoke alarms should be tested monthly.
The City of Batavia Fire Department has a free smoke alarm and battery installation program. According to Lt. Whitcombe “We have installed hundreds of smoke alarms and batteries over the past 20 years and will continue to do so until everyone who needs them has them.”
For information about the free smoke alarm and battery installation program, City of Batavia residents should contact the City of Batavia Fire Department at (585) 345-6375.
And the CO batteries as well.
And the CO batteries as well.
I highly recommend integrated
I highly recommend integrated smoke/CO detectors if you can swing it. We have all our bedrooms' detectors wired in on a single circuit w/ battery backup in case the power goes out.
This way, if one goes off, they all go off.
Raymond good point about
Raymond good point about Carbon monoxide detectors. Every home should have a working CO detector as well and the batteries should be changed when smoke detector baterries are changed. While smoke detectors have a 10 year life, Carbon monoxide detectors only have a 5 year effective life. Almost all fire department now have a smoke detector program so if anyone has questions about or needs a smoke detector contact your local fire department.
I like the idea of a CO
I like the idea of a CO detector on each floor along with the smoke detectors.