ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - A home fire impacts the life of an American family every 85 seconds, fire officials say.
By providing an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape, smoke alarms cut in half your family's risk of dying in a home fire – but only if they work.
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So, when you turn your clocks back, on Sunday, November 1, also make a lifesaving change in your household – change the batteries in your smoke alarms!
This simple habit takes just a moment, but is the best defense your family has against the devastating effects of a home fire.
In addition to changing your smoke alarm batteries this weekend, the USFA(United States Fire Administration) recommends following these simple steps to protect your life, your loved ones, and your home:
- Dust or vacuum smoke alarms when you change the batteries.
- Test alarms once a month using the test button.
- Replace the entire alarm if it's more than 10 years old or doesn't work properly when tested.
- Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, including the basement, and both inside and outside of sleeping areas.
- For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual sensor alarms.
- Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout your home so that when one sounds, they all sound. Interconnected alarms are available at most stores that sell smoke alarms.
- Make sure everyone in your home understands the warning of the smoke alarm and knows how to respond.
Roanoke Fire-EMS offers free batteries to their citizens – stop by any station to pick yours up (while supplies last!)! This reminder to Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery comes to you from Roanoke Fire-EMS, USFA, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer Max brand batteries.