Daylight Savings Means It’s Time to Replace Your Smoke Alarm Batteries
About three in five home fire deaths occur in homes without a working smoke alarm. In 2016, 43 Minnesotans died in fires. Although most homes have smoke alarms, they are often not tested regularly, disconnected, or have dead batteries. Follow these simple tips to help keep your family and home safe.
- Replace the batteries in your smoke alarms twice a year. To keep things simple, replace your batteries with the spring and fall daylight savings time changes.
- Test your smoke alarms monthly. Simply press the test button on the device.
- Replace smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.
- Make sure everyone in the household understands the sound of the alarm and how they should respond.
- Create and practice a fire escape plan.
- Everyone should know two ways to escape from every room.
- Decide on a meeting place once you get outside.
- Practice crawling to avoid dangerous smoke.
- Drill stop, drop, and roll in the event clothes catch on fire.
- Get to safety first, then call 911.
If you need smoke alarms installed in your home or need assistance getting your batteries replaced, the American Red Cross can help. To request a smoke alarm, text “Alarm” to (844) 811-0100 or call (612) 460-3674. Visit the Red Cross Home Fire Safety website to learn more, donate, or volunteer.
