TOMS RIVER – It’s that time of year: Daylight Savings Time ends 2 a.m. Nov. 4. It’s time to change the batteries in smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors.
““In the event of a fire, a properly installed and maintained smoke alarm can alert you and your loved ones to the danger of smoke and give you and your family the critical extra seconds to make a safe escape,” Kevin Esposito, Chief Inspector of the Township’s Fire Prevention Bureau, said.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly two-thirds of home fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke detectors, or no working detectors. When alarms failed to operate properly, the reason was almost always due to missing, disconnected, or dead batteries.
The NFPA said dead batteries caused 24 percent of the smoke alarm failures.
“To protect your family from a home fire, replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms when you adjust your clocks twice a year,” Esposito said. “Consider your smoke alarms to be the most important clocks that need to be changed in your home. Replacing a smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old is also recommended.”
For more information about fire safety, contact the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention at 732-240-5153 or trfireprevention.com.
