[Press Release] : Thirty seconds can save your life! Do you're smoke alarms work?

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

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

Thirty seconds can save your life! Do you're smoke alarms work?

COLUMBIA, MO (March 8, 2007) -- Overnight in New York City, nine
people, eight of them children, lost their lives in a house fire.
Reports from fire investigators and NYFD spokespeople say that while the
apartment house did have smoke alarms, the batteries had been removed
rendering the smoke alarms useless. 

This tragedy could have been prevented or the loss of life reduced if a
working smoke alarm was present in the house. 

This weekend, when the nation changes from standard time to daylight
savings time, the men and women of the Columbia Fire Department urge you
to replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and then test them to
ensure they work. It takes an average of 30 seconds to replace the
battery in a smoke alarm and then depress the test button to make sure
it is working. 

Make testing your smoke alarm a habit. Smoke alarm manufacturers, the
National Fire Protection Association, underwriter's labs and fire
departments encourage you to test your smoke alarms once a month,
replace the batteries at least once a year and replace your smoke alarms
if they are 10 years old.

And while you’re changing the batteries in your smoke alarms, take
another five minutes to develop a family fire escape plan so that you
know what to do when your smoke alarm does sound. Make sure you know two
ways out of every room; parents should know who will escort young
children or others who may not be able to leave on their own; have a
common meeting place; and make sure you never return inside a burning or
smoke-filled building. 

Take 30 seconds this weekend to replace smoke alarm batteries and test
your smoke alarm - make it a habit for life! 

- 30 -
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