Change your Clock - Change Your Battery

Help save lives in your community - remind your family, friends, and neighbors to adopt a simple lifesaving change ...

In the spring and fall, when we adjust our clocks for Daylight Savings time, the Mifflin Township Division of Fire wants to remind residents to make another change that could save lives—changing batteries in your smoke detectors.

Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year. An average of 3 children die daily in home fires, and 80% of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Nonworking smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits that home fire safety devices were designed to provide. The most commonly cited cause of nonworking smoke alarms are worn or missing batteries.

Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once yearly is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries. In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire. Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing your smoke alarms every 10 years.

To save lives and prevent needless injuries in Mifflin Township, the Department of Fire has joined forces with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer for the "Change Your Clock - Change Your Battery" campaign. The program urges all Americans to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit—changing smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks back to standard time each fall.

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10:00p and 6:00a, when most families are sleeping. Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths. Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.

In addition, residents are encouraged to use the "extra" hour you save from the time change to test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, planning "two ways out," and practicing escape routes with the entire family. Families should also prepare a fire safety kit that includes working flashlights and fresh batteries.

It is tragic that fire can kill selectively. Those most at risk include ...

• Children - Approximately 1,000 children under the age of 20 die annually in home fires. Children under the age of 5 are at twice the risk of dying in a home fire, and 80% of fatal home fire children victims were killed in homes without working smoke alarms.
• Seniors - Adults older than age 75 are 3 times more likely to die in home fires than is the rest of the population. Those older than 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire. Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.
• Low-Income Families - Many low-income families are unable to afford batteries for their smoke alarms. These same households often rely on poorly installed, maintained, or misused portable or area heating equipment—a main cause of fatal home fires.

Sample E-mail Reminder Message

Note, send this sample e-mail message to your department and friends the week before the time change, and urge them to pass the message along to their loved ones.

Subject: A Simple Change that Could Safe your Life.

Eighty-three percent of all civilian fire-related deaths are a result of home fires. On the average, nearly 3 children daily die in these fires. By providing an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape, smoke alarms double your family's chance of getting out of a home fire alive—but only if they work.

So, when your turn your clocks back in October, make a lifesaving change in your household—change the batteries in your smoke alarms. This simple habit takes just a moment but is the best defense your family has against the devastating effects of a home fire.

Please forward this message to your friends and family so that they, too, can make the simple change that could save their lives.

This reminder to "Change Your Clock - Change Your Battery" comes from the Mifflin Township Division of Fire, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Energizer.