Firefighters group aims to increase smoke alarm awareness

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 5:53 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION Oct. 24 - 25, 2003

Daylight-saving time ends at 2 a.m., and while most people think it's only a time to reset the clock, fire departments remind residents that it's also time to change fire alarm batteries.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Energizer battery company are spreading the word in a nationwide campaign to decrease home-fire deaths. "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" is a program designed to help save lives throughout communities by reminding residents to adopt the simple habit of replacing fire alarm batteries at the same time each year.

Local fire departments are getting the word out to area residents through the media and by going door-to-door, emphasizing the importance of keeping smoke alarms working and in good condition.

Tim Szymanski, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue spokesman, said residents need to change fire alarm batteries at least once a year. Residents with wired-in smoke alarms also need to check their batteries.

"A thing that a lot of people don't realize in the valley is just because they have wired-in smoke alarms, they still need to check and change their batteries," he said. "Most people here buy a home and have a wired-in alarm on every level. They may not realize that those alarms have batteries, too, for emergencies."

While wired-in alarms are operated electronically, it is important that residents check the batteries because sometimes there is a fire when the electricity goes out, Szymanski said.

"Today, a lot of people know the importance of changing smoke alarm batteries," he said. "They just need something to jog their memory."

On Oct. 8 Las Vegas firefighters walked neighborhoods throughout the city handing out 13-page fire safety pamphlets, Szymanski said. Included in the pamphlet is a section that highlights changing smoke alarm batteries, dusting them and keeping them in good shape.

Szymanski said the cost of a new battery is about 95 cents, a small price to pay to protect families, especially young children.

In the United States, an estimated 1,000 children under the age of 20 die annually in house fires, an average of three children per day, according to the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Research shows that nonworking smoke alarms were often responsible. That spurred the creation of the "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" program in 1987.

Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds needed to get out safely, Chief Ernie Mitchell, president of the IAFC, said.

The main reason people need working smoke alarms is to wake them if there is fire.

"The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most families are sleeping," he said.

Szymanski said smoke alarms are crucial during the night and early morning hours to give residents extra time to get out of the house before inhaling too much smoke.

"We've saved a lot of lives where people were alerted in the night by their smoke alarms," he said. "It is important because, when you sleep, you lose your sense of smell. A lot of people can't smell the smoke and end up dying of smoke inhalation in their sleep."

Residents with faulty alarms put themselves at serious risk and can only rely on luck to wake up, Szymanski said.

In October 2002, an 84-year-old Las Vegas woman was rescued after waking up to a smoke-filled house one Sunday morning.

The great-grandmother had awakened to go to church when she noticed the smoke filling the hallway. Firefighters had to force open the steel bars on the front door and unlatch the door from the inside.

The woman was taken to Valley Hospital, where she was treated for smoke inhalation. The house's single smoke alarm wasn't operating because its battery was missing, Szymanski said. The woman was very lucky to have woken up by chance and gotten out in time, he said.

Although smoke alarms are present in 94 percent of homes nationwide, 20 percent do not work because of worn or missing batteries, according to the International Association of Fire Chiefs. That means nearly 19 million homes are at risk. By adopting the idea of changing alarm batteries when the time changes from daylight-saving to standard, Americans can cut their chance of dying in a home fire nearly in half.

Szymanski recalls an incident where a woman noticed her fire alarm beeping and decided to change the battery that night. This turned out to be a lifesaver when her children started a house fire the next day.

"When you hear your alarm beeping in intervals, that means that the battery is running low," Szymanski said. "In this instance, changing the battery that evening ended up saving her and her children's lives."

Bob Leinbach, Clark County Fire Department spokesman, said he strongly supports the program.

"I certainly support it and think it's a great idea," he said. "Most batteries last a year so if you check your battery every time you change your clock, it would be a good way to remember."In addition to the battery change program, the fire chiefs group encourages families to develop and practice a home fire escape plan to ensure they could escape quickly and safely in a fire.

Only 25 percent of families in the U.S. have such a plan, a survey done by the fire chiefs says. The group also found that households with non-working alarms outnumber those with no smoke alarms.