Daylight Saving: Change your clock and change your batteries

The El Paso Fire Department is reminding everyone of the simple life-saving habit of changing the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms when adjusting your clocks for daylight saving time.

According to fire officials, every year there are roughly 2,200 deaths and 11,000 ER injuries due to the more than 350,000 house fires throughout the nation. Proper installation, operation, and maintenance of smoke alarms reduce the risk of property damage, injuries, and death.

Daylight savings time starts at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10 when clocks are set ahead one hour. When adjusting your clocks, take a few minutes to replace the smoke alarm batteries if needed and push the test button to make sure the alarms are working.

In addition to smoke alarms, CO alarms should also be checked this weekend. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas and it can kill within minutes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, just 42 percent of households report having a working carbon monoxide alarm.

Smoke alarms with 10 year batteries should be tested by pressing the test button. Replace these units if the test alarm doesn’t sound, the low battery chirp is sounding, or the unit is older than 10 years. The batteries in these types of detectors are not replaceable.

If you don’t have working smoke alarms, dial 3-1-1 or CLICK HERE to request them for free.

The Fire Department’s Community Risk Reduction Division can provide two to three smoke alarms, with installation included, at no cost.