Even if you forget to turn your clocks forward an hour, firefighters ask that you not forget this. They’ve had a busy winter on fire calls, and many of the homes were missing this vital safety measure.
“Our last three fires since January 1st, all those houses did not have working smoke detectors in them,” says Tim Mooney, Deputy Fire Chief of Red Lion Fire Company.
Firefighters take detectors with them on calls in case they find ones that don’t work.
They’ve already installed more than 100 smoke alarms for people in their coverage area. York City Fire Department also received grants to do the same.
There are smoke alarms with regular batteries, and ones that have 10-year batteries. Some states now require that longer-lasting kind.
Push the test button on your alarms to hear their signal– if it’s silent, it’s not working. Experts say you should also vacuum dust off them so they work best. They recommend at least one smoke detector per floor.