Change the Batteries in Smoke Alarms when falling Back

This weekend, time falls back an hour! The Oconee County Fire Service reminds everyone when they change their clocks this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018, make a change that could save your life by replacing the batteries in your smoke alarms. Approximately 80% of all fire deaths occur in the home. The majority of these deaths occurred at night when people were asleep and in most cases in homes without working smoke alarms due to dead, missing or disconnected batteries. Oconee County Fire Chief Charlie King encourages residents to make it a habit when they change their clocks, they change their batteries too. “We encourage folks that as the time changes twice a year and as our clocks fall back over the weekend, to check and change your smoke detector batteries throughout your house. It is a critical life saving device that has proven, not only in our county but across the country, that it saves lives for you and your family. So, we encourage you to have a working smoke detector. If your detectors are over ten years old we encourage those to be replaced and as always if you are unable to change your batteries or change out your smoke detectors that is a service that your fire departments across Oconee County will provide to you simply by calling our office at 864-638-4200 and we will be glad to replace the batteries or provide a detector, if there is a need.” Having a smoke alarm on every level of the home, outside of sleeping rooms and in each bedroom, can reduce your risk of dying in a fire by providing early warning and critical seconds to escape, but only if they work. Everyone is urged to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit: changing smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks. Do not wait for the low battery alarm to go off before changing the battery.