Detroit Fire Department Reminds Residents to Change Their Smoke Alarm Batteries When They Change Their Clocks This Weekend

This Sunday, March 14, marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  In an effort to save lives and prevent injuries, the City of Detroit Fire Department encourages residents to change their smoke alarm batteries when they change their clocks as part of the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery’’ campaign.

The Detroit Fire Department informs residents that smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire, giving people critical additional escape time.  A report by the National Fire Protection Association, “Smoke Alarms in U.S. Home Fires,” which captured national data over a four-year period, illustrates the critical role smoke alarms play in protecting lives from the dangers of fires:

• Only 53% of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments had operating smoke alarms
• Three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%). 
• The death rate per 100 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to homes with working smoke alarms.