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Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Detector Battery
As the fall time change approaches, the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives—changing the batteries in their smoke alarms.
An average of three children a day die in home fires and 80% of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits the home fire 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 your smoke alarms every ten years. Working smoke alarms provide an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape. This is particularly important for those most at risk of dying in a home fire, such as children and seniors.
To save lives and prevent needless injuries, the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company has joined forces with the International Association of Fire Chiefs for the 15th year of the "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" campaign. The program urges all Americans to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit: changing smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks back to standard time each fall, this year on October 27.
In addition, residents can use the "extra" hour they save from the time change to test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, planning "two ways out" and practicing those escapee routes with the entire family. Families should also prepare a fire safety kit that includes working flashlights and fresh batteries.
Tragically, fire can kill selectively. Approximately 1,000 children under the age of 20 die each year in home fires. Fire is the third leading cause of accidental deaths among children under age five, placing them at twice the risk of dying in a home fire. Adults over age 75 are three times more likely to die in home fires than the rest of the population, and those over 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire. Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.
For more info about fire safety, you may write to: "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery," 15 Nantucket Lane, St. Louis, MO 63132; or call 314-995-3939.
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