Change the batteries in your smoke detectors

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- As the clock springs forward an hour the Zanesville Fire Department recommends changing the batteries in your smoke detector when you change the time on your clocks.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, over half of the deaths in America from a fire did not have a working or any type of smoke detector. Zanesville Fire Fighter Steve Vincent said smoke detectors save lives.

“It’s an early warning. It gets you enough time to get out of the house, to call 911 and get the kids out safely. It’s just an early warning before there’s a catastrophe before there’s a death,” said Vincent.

Vincent said people should change the batteries in their smoke detectors at least twice a year. The time change makes it easy to change a clock and then right after change the battery. He said if you only have one smoke detector it should be placed in the hall outside the master bedroom.

“You want to wake the adults for sure because when my kids were growing up they could of slept through smoke alarms or freight trains, either one. They were good sleepers. You do not smell smoke in your sleep. Your senses occasionally, yes, but if you are in your deep REM sleep, you are not going to smell the smoke,” said Vincent.

The Zanesville Fire Department provides a free smoke detector per house to Muskingum County Residents, as part of the ABC Wilson Fund. This fund was started and named after Adam, Brian, and Craig who died in 1989 in a house fire that did not have a working smoke detector.