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

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Battalion Chief Steven Sapp - (573) 499-7035 

Time to change your clocks and your battery!

COLUMBIA, MO (November 1, 2007) - 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 retire for the night on Saturday, Nov. 3, 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.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, 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. Nonworking smoke alarms
rob  residents of the protective benefits home fire safety devices were
designed to provide. 

The most commonly cited cause of nonworking 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 saves lives!" said Columbia's Fire Chief William
Markgraf. "A working smoke  alarm provides 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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