When switching to Daylight Savings Time this weekend, the City of Milton Fire Department suggests changing the batteries in your smoke detectors. If the detectors use 9-volt batteries, replace the battery every six months with a fresh, alkaline battery to ensure they are in good working order.
“As a minimum, every home should have at least one working smoke detector on every floor, outside of every sleeping room,” said City of Milton Fire Chief John E. Reble. “When you are asleep, you cannot smell smoke from a fire. The smoke detector offers the best chance to wake up early enough to escape a fire in your home while sleeping,” Reble said.
According to a report from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), three out of every five residential fire deaths resulted from fires in homes without smoke detectors, or where the smoke detectors in place did not work, usually because batteries were dead or missing.
“Smoke detectors save lives,” says Reble. “Make sure your home has a working smoke detector. Maintain the batteries and test them monthly. Your life could depend on it.”
