Daylight Saving Time– pushing clocks ahead one hour– starts at 2am local time Sunday (March 14, 2021) morning and South Dakota’s Fire Marshal says there is more to it than just changing the clocks.
Paul Merriman says this is also a good time to change the batteries in smoke alarms because they save lives. He says statistics from the National Fire Protection Association indicate:
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From 2014 through 2018, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (54%) of the home fires that were reported to US fire departments.
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Almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (41%) or no working smoke alarms (16%).
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The death rate per 1,000 in reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (13.0 deaths vs. 5.8 deaths per 1,000 fires).
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In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, two of every five (41%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
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Dead batteries caused more than one-quarter (26%) of the smoke alarm failures.
Merriman said the same advice goes with carbon monoxide alarms. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because it is impossible to see, taste or smell the toxic fumes, Merriman says carbon monoxide can kill before people are aware it’s in their home. He says people can check their smoke or carbon monoxide alarms by pushing the test button on the alarm. If the alarm doesn’t sound, the batteries should be replaced.
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