Recently, I noticed my smoke alarm wasn’t going off anymore if a little smoke was made in the kitchen. It reminded me to change the battery in my smoke alarm.
As you spring forward to Daylight Saving Time and set your clocks ahead one hour on Sunday, March 11, be sure to change the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Replace all smoke alarms every 10 years, test them monthly, and clean them regularly.
"Working smoke alarms cut your risk of dying in a house fire in half,” said Michigan State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer. "If you have a fire, you will have less than three minutes to get out of your home before the smoke and fire gases become deadly.”
The early warning given by smoke alarms provides people with extra time to escape, especially children and senior citizens who have the most risk and need extra seconds to get out, Sehlmeyer said.
Homes should have a working smoke alarm on every level of the house, including the basement, and one in every bedroom. Never borrow a battery from a smoke alarm to use elsewhere. Never remove the battery because the alarm sounded due to burned food or cooking smoke.
“Every year we see tragedy hit because a battery was removed for these reasons and was not replaced,” he said.
If your smoke alarm “chirps,” it’s a warning that the battery is low and needs to be replaced.
Traditional smoke alarms are either powered by battery, a disposable 9-volt battery or non-replaceable 10-year lithium “long-life” battery, or they’re hardwired into the home’s electrical system. Hard-wired alarms usually have a backup battery and those batteries also need to be replaced.
Sehlmeyer also urges citizens to install and maintain carbon monoxide alarms. CO alarms should be installed in the hallway outside the bedrooms as the odorless, colorless gas that can be fatal at low levels in the home. If the CO alarm sounds, leave your home immediately, and call 9-1-1.
“Develop and practice an escape plan for the family that has two ways out in case of fire,” he said. “At least twice a year, conduct a home fire drill at night so the kids recognize the sound of the smoke alarms and teach them to respond instinctively to their signal by exiting the home.”
Designate a clear meeting place for everyone to gather outside the home in case of a fire or other emergency and notify the fire department by calling 9-1-1 when you’re out of the home.
The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most families are sleeping, according to the National Fire Protection Agency. In more than one-third of home fire deaths, no smoke alarms were present. In one-quarter of home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present, but didn’t sound.
