Remember to ‘Fall back’: Change clocks and alarm batteries Sunday, Nov. 4

Published 9:27 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

King County Fire District 27 in Fall City urges community members to adopt a simple, potentially live-saving habit: change smoke alarm batteries when setting clocks back one hour to standard time at 3 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 4.

According to statistics, 80 percent of fire deaths are in homes without working smoke alarms. Although smoke alarms are present in 98 percent of homes, 19 percent of those alarms do not work, usually because of dead or missing batteries.

District 27 offers the following tips:

* Install a smoke alarm on each level of the home, including the basement and one in each sleeping area.

* After replacing the batteries in a smoke alarm, make sure the alarm is working by activating the safety test button.

* Test all smoke alarms at least once each month.

* Don’t borrow the battery from a smoke alarm for other devices.

* If there’s any doubt about the working condition of a smoke alarm or if it is 10 years old or older, replace it.