Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday at 2 a.m. and as we “Spring Ahead” Manitowoc Fire and Rescue Personnel encourages all citizens to replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Deputy Chief Karl Koch said, “You change your smoke alarm battery and your carbon monoxide battery in spring and fall when you change your clock. It’s also important to remember to check those alarms or detectors monthly by pressing the “test” button on the detector.”
Koch tells Seehafer News that they’ve witnessed tragedies that could have easily been prevented. “For both fire calls and carbon monoxide calls, we’ve had incidents with both where if there would have been a working detector in the residence, the occupants would have been alerted when the situation began and they would have had time to exit.”
The National Fire Protection Association states that three out of every five deaths in homes were because there were no or non-working smoke alarms in the residence.
Koch stresses the importance of implementing and practicing an escape plan. “You practice your home fire drills just like you practice fire drills at school. Once you’re out of the building, you stay out of the building. Whether it’s your home or your school or a public building in town. Once you’re out, you stay out.”
This is also a great time to update your emergency kits and have your furnace or wood-burning stove inspected to make sure it’s functionally sound and vents properly outside the home.
For more tips on emergency preparedness visit readywisconsin.wi.gov.
