Area Fire Departments Remind Residents to Change Smoke Detector Batteries Before Time Change

Area fire departments want to make sure families remember to change the batteries in the smoke detectors. in order to save lives.

"Anytime you change your clocks, change your batteries. It's that simple," said Brian Krueger with the Greenfield Fire Department.

It's a longstanding reminder area fire departments encourage you to do, replace the batteries in your smoke alarms when the time changes.

"What'll happen is, you may have a fire raging somewhere on the house and you won't know about it. Early detection of a fire is what's key to getting out safely," said Krueger. 

Lieutenant Brian Krueger said there's no specific reason why experts tell you to change the smoke alarm batteries when the time changes, 
other than the fact that it's just an easy way to remember.

"People are always very upset after the fire. They're like 'Oh, we should've changed our batteries, we didn't remember,' and all those kinds of things. When somebody has a working smoke detector, yes, there's damage to the property, and usually the occupants are very safe and they're outside and there's no injuries," he said. 

He said it's a simple task, which could mean the difference between life and death.

"If you forget to change your clocks tomorrow, you might not wake up on time. If you forget to change your batteries, you might not wake up at all," said Krueger. 

The fire department also said to keep smoke alarms clean and free of dust, so they still work properly.