Daylight savings time ends Sunday

Brian Schaeffer, Assistant Fire Chief, 509.625.7002

Friday, October 30, 2015 at 3:17 p.m.

When you change your clocks back to Standard Time this weekend, Spokane Fire Department asks you to also check the condition of your smoke alarms.

In the past, the slogan was “Change Your Clock / Change Your Battery!” We now recognize the importance of also knowing the type of battery in the alarm and the age of the unit itself.

  • Replace alkaline batteries in smoke alarms at least once a year or whenever they begin to chirp.
  • When long-life lithium batteries chirp, it means the detector itself needs to be replaced. Lithium batteries should last up to 10 years. All smoke alarms, whether hardwired into the electricity or simply battery-operated, must be replaced every 10 years.
  • Determine the age of smoke alarms by looking for the date of manufacture on the back label of the alarm itself.
  • When replacing smoke alarms, choose the PHOTOELECTRIC or dual-sensor PHOTO-ION type because they are significantly more effective at detecting smoldering fires than the more common ionization smoke alarms.

When you take time to turn your clock back one hour this weekend, please make time to also check on the condition of the smoke alarms in your home. You need at least one working smoke alarm on each level of the house, one outside each sleeping area and one in each bedroom.

About 2,800 persons die in home fires in the U.S. each year. Three of every five of these fatalities happened in homes that were not protected by a working smoke alarm. Remember to push the test button on your smoke alarms the first day of every month to make sure that everything is still connected with its power source.

For more information on smoke alarms, please call Spokane Fire Department at 509.625.7058.