Full Notification

REMINDER - CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS & CHANGE YOUR SMOKE ALARM BATTERIES THIS EVENING.

Daylight Savings begins on Sunday March 13, 2011 and can be a life saver as well. The City of Folsom Fire Department would like to remind all residents that the time change is a great opportunity to change the batteries in their home smoke detectors.

Approximately 3,000 people die each year in house fires in the United States every year. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that nearly half of those deaths occur in the 4 percent of homes that do not have working smoke detectors. The NFPA also reports that twenty percent of home smoke detectors do not work because of dead or missing batteries.

The importance of smoke detectors is underscored by information provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission: “Your chance of surviving a house fire doubles if there are working smoke detectors in your home”.

Although smoke-detector batteries might last as long as a year, the experts say they should be changed twice yearly: at the return of standard time on the first Sunday in November, and then again when clocks are changed to daylight-savings time on the second Sunday in March.

Even if your smoke detector is “hard wired” into your home electrical system, they most likely have backup batteries to make sure the detectors work during a power failure. It is also important to use the proper kind of batteries. Alkaline batteries are best. Ni-Cad and other rechargeable batteries are not suited for smoke detectors as they are designed for high-tech electronics.

As well as changing the batteries twice a year it is also important to check smoke detectors monthly by pressing the test button. The NFPA recommends that smoke detectors be replaced after ten years of use.

There should be one smoke detector in every bedroom, along with a detector outside each sleeping area. Make sure that you have at least one detector on each level of your home. To increase the level of protection, consider installing detectors that are interconnected, so that all detectors sound an alarm as soon as one detects smoke. Because smoke rises, it is important to install all smoke detectors high on the wall or on the ceiling. Always follow the written installation instructions provided by the manufacturer.

For more information on home fire safety, or to request assistance with checking smoke detectors and batteries, please contact the City of Folsom Fire Department at (916) 984-2871.

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