[Press Release] : Time to change your clocks - change your battery!

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Battalion Chief Steven Sapp - (573) 874-7557

Time to change your clocks - change your battery!

COLUMBIA, MO (October 27, 2006) -- As the fall time change approaches,
the Columbia Fire Department wants to remind residents to make a change
that could save their lives - changing the batteries in their smoke
alarms. Before you and your family retire for the night on Saturday,
Oct. 28, make sure to set your clocks back one hour to make the change
to Central Standard Time and change the batteries in your smoke alarms.

An average of three children nationwide die each day in house fires and
80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. In
2005, more than 3,900 people died in fires in the United States.
Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home
fire safety devices were designed to provide. 

The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms is dead or
missing batteries.

Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the
simplest, most effective ways to reduce tragic deaths and injuries
associated with fires. In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half
the risk of dying in a home fire. Additionally, the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Fire Protection Association,as
well as your Columbia Fire Department, recommend replacing your smoke
alarms when they are 10 years old.

"A working smoke alarm save lives!" said Columbia's fire Chief William
Markgraf. "Working smoke alarms provide early warning and critical extra
seconds to escape from a home fire which is particularly important for
those most at risk of dying in a home fire, such as children and
seniors."

In addition, Chief Markgraf recommends residents use the extra hour
they save from the time change to test smoke alarms by pushing the test
button, designing a family fire escape plan and practicing those escape
plans with the entire family.

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