This Sunday, Nov. 5, marks the end of Daylight Saving 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 captures national data from 2009-2013, 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
For more information about the importance of working smoke alarms, contact the Detroit Fire Department Community Relations Division at (313) 596-2959.