Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries this Weekend

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department is encouraging citizens to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they change their clocks to Daylight Savings Time this Sunday, March 12th.  

Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of your home.  They should also be installed inside and outside of sleeping areas for maximum protection.   Test your smoke alarms monthly.  Replace batteries at least once a year or if the smoke alarm begins to “chirp” which indicates a low battery.  Some new smoke alarms allow lithium power cell batteries to be installed – these batteries may last up to ten years.  Smoke alarms themselves should be replaced after ten years. 

A working smoke alarm can decrease a family’s risk of dying in a fire by nearly 50 percent.  Last year in Cedar Rapids, smoke alarms alerted occupants in 20 percent of the residential fires in Cedar Rapids (20 out of 101 residential fires).  Unfortunately, nearly 80 percent of the time, firefighters were not able to verify a working smoke alarm that was properly installed and functioning.   The most common cause of smoke alarm failure was missing or worn batteries.