Spring ahead, check smoke alarms

It’s time to spring forward this Sunday, moving clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Saving Time.

It’s that time of year again to roll your clocks forward.

If any residents do not now have a working smoke or carbon monoxide detector, the fire department will provide them for free and install them in the home.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Get Alarmed Kansas program, plus the American Red Cross, offer free smoke alarms to fire departments across the state to install in the homes of any resident who needs one.

A man died in a fire on the morning of May 15, in a home that was not equipped with a smoke detector, according to Fire Marshal Johnie Evans. As of January 31, the Red Cross and its partners had helped to save at least 159 lives and installed more than 702,000 smoke alarms in 9,100 cities and towns nationwide.

It’s recommended that residents change their smoke alarm batteries twice a year, one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce fire injuries and death, Cavender said. An ionization smoke alarms will pick up the difference in the charged particles from the smoke. He says to change out smoke detectors every ten years.

Officials say Londoners need an early warning in order to know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds. Look for smoke alarms with non-replaceable batteries which can last up to 10 years. So give yourself the best chance possible.

A poster distributed by the International Association of Fire Fighters shows where to install smoke alarms in a home.

– Place smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home, as well as outside sleeping areas and inside bedrooms. In fact, surveys show that nearly one-third of all smoke detectors fall into that category.

Some of the newer smoke alarms use lithium batteries. Keller says nationally, about 80 percent of all fatal fires happen in homes that do not have a “working” smoke detector.

Push the test button to be sure the battery is working.

Never paint your smoke alarms.