Fall Back: Changing your Clocks? Change your Smoke Alarm Batteries, Too

LAKE FOREST, CA — The clocks are moving back an hour this Sunday morning, November 6, at 2 a.m. It’s also a great time to check your smoke alarms and change the batteries.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, whenever the time changes is the best time to check your smoke alarm and change their batteries.

Nation wide statistics show that approximately 75% of failed smoke alarms are due to missing batteries.

"We are asking the community to join the OCFA in efforts to reduce the risk. Our smoke alarm
campaign, 'Install, Inspect, Protect' is a great way to remember some vital information," OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz said.

Key components include:

Install:

Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home, inside each sleeping area, and in every hallway
leading to sleeping areas. Replace the entire unit every 10 years

Inspect:

Test your hard-wired and battery operated smoke alarms every month. Change the batteries twice a year, when changing your clocks for both battery operated and hard wired smoke alarms. Clean your smoke alarms every year.

Protect:

Plan a home escape plan and ensure that everyone in the household knows the sound that the alarm
makes and what to do if they hear it Identify two ways out of each room and designate a meeting place outside the home to account for family members in the event of an emergency. Practice your home fire drills every six months and remember to crawl low under the smoke & go.

Call 911 immediately and ensure that everyone knows your Home Escape Plan.

Orange County Fire Authority encourages all Orange County residents to take two simple steps that can save lives. Ensure that you have working smoke alarms in your home and create and practice home fire exit drills.

Fire experts agree that people may have as little as one minute to escape a burning home before it’s too
late to get out. A working smoke alarm reduces the chance of dying in a fire by nearly half, and a predetermined escape plan ensures everyone knows the best way out and where to meet once outside.

Now is the time to check your smoke alarms and change the batteries too.

For more valuable information, please visit “Install, Inspect, Protect” at www.ocfa.org

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