CFD: Change smoke detector batteries

CFD: Change smoke detector batteries now
Fire Department promotes rule of thumb 'Change your clock, change your battery'
For Current in Carmel

As the time change approaches on Sunday, March 14^th, the Carmel Fire Department wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives – changing the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year.  Approximately every 3 hours a home fire death occurs somewhere in the nation and 80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms.  Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home safety devices were designed to provide.  The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms: worn or missing batteries.

Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries.  In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire.  Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing our smoke alarms every ten years. 

To save lives and prevent needless injuries in Carmel, the Carmel Fire Department has joined forces with Energizer and the International Association of Fire Chiefs for the 22^nd year of the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® campaign.  The program urges all Americans to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit: changing smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector batteries when changing clocks back to daylight savings time each spring, this year on March 14^th.  Americans are encouraged again to check the batteries during the fall time change on November 7^th, 2010. 

“The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most families are sleeping,” says Chief Keith Smith.  “Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths.  Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.”

In addition, Chief Smith recommends residents to test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors by pushing the test button, planning “two ways out” and practicing escape routes with the entire family. 

Tragically, fire can kill selectively.  Those most at risk include:

·        Children – About 600 individuals under the age of 20 die each year in home fires.  Children under age 5 are at twice the risk of dying in a home fire.  Eighty percent of fatal home fire victims who were children were killed in homes without working smoke alarms.

·        Seniors – Adults over age 75 are three times more likely to die in home fires than the rest of the population; those over 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire.  Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.

·        Low-Income Households – Many low-income families are unable to afford batteries for their smoke alarms.  These same households often rely on poorly installed, maintained or misused portable or area heating equipment – a main cause of fatal home fires.

For more information about fire safety, call the Carmel Fire Department at 571-2600 or the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® hotline 314-727-5700, x108 or e-mail cyccyb@blickandstaff.com or call the International Association of Fire Chiefs at 703-273-0911 or e-mail corpraterelations@iafc.org.