It’s time to change your clocks and check your smoke detector batteries. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday.
Also, make it a point to change the batteries in your smoke alarms.
“Smoke alarms are an essential part of home fire safety plans; in the event of an emergency, they can save you, your family, and your belongings,” says Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John King.
Even if your smoke alarm has not started chirping, most smoke alarm batteries should be changed twice per year, according to fire safety experts.
There have been at least 81 reported home fire fatalities in Georgia this year, with several homes having non-functional or even missing smoke alarms.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the death rate in homes without functioning smoke alarms was more than twice as high compared to homes with working smoke alarms between 2014 and 2018.
Commissioner King also encourages Georgians to test and clean dust from their smoke alarms monthly and to practice an escape plan in case their home is ever impacted by a fire.
