Spring Safety

Daylight Saving Time means setting the clocks forward. It’s also a chance to consider fire safety. It’s important to have smoke detectors installed throughout your house, but it’s not enough to simply install and forget about them. Twice a year, it is critical that you test your smoke detectors and replace their batteries. An easy way to tackle this task is to change your smoke detector batteries as you go through your house to change the time on  your clocks. At the same time, it can be helpful to dust or vacuum the detectors to keep them free of debris that can interfere with their operation. Establishing this habit twice a year could save your life, and that of your loved ones.

More than half of home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms. Eighty-six percent of all homes in the United States have at least one smoke detector, but a third of them do not work. Most smoke detector failures are attributed to a lack of regular battery replacement. With Daylight Saving Time upon us, it is a good reminder to change those batteries. Should you neglect to change your smoke detector’s batteries, the device may make a chirping sound to alert you that the battery is running low. One should not rely solely on that warning noise. It is always better to change the battery proactively every six months. Once your smoke detectors have been cleaned and their batteries replaced, ensure that everyone in your household is familiar with the sound the smoke alarm emits and knows how to react immediately.

In addition to replacing smoke detector batteries, spring is a good time to rid your home of fire hazards that exist in the form of grease, grime and dust that builds up on appliance cords and in hidden corners of the house. Below are some ways to consider fire safety while doing your spring cleaning this year: