DETROIT (WXYZ) — The City of Detroit is encouraging residents to change their smoke alarm batteries when they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time this weekend.
It is part of the Fire Department's "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" campaign to inform residents that smoke alarms give an early warning of a fire, as well as critical escape time.
A report by the National Fire Protection Association detailed the role smoke detectors play in protecting lives from fire danger:
- 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.
This Sunday, March 10, we'll be turning our clocks ahead one hour.
