PRESS RELEASE:
For immediate release:
October 24, 2012
For more information call
Chad Duffaut, Fire Prevention Chief– 985-646-4387
St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 reminds us it’s time to
“Change Your Clock / Change Your Battery”
SLIDELL, LA., October 24, 2012– As the fall time change approaches, St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives — changing the batteries in their smoke alarms. Nine-volt Energizer Batteries will be available, free of charge, at Fire Stations through Monday, November 12th, while supplies last, to adults only, with a limit of two per household.
An average of three children a day dies in home fires, and 80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. The most commonly cited cause of nonworking smoke alarms is worn or missing batteries.
Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries. In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire. Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing your smoke alarms every eight to 10 years.
To save lives and prevent needless injuries in St. Tammany Parish, St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 has joined forces with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer brand batteries for nearly two decades with the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” campaign. The program urges all Americans to adopt a simple, life-saving habit: changing smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks back to standard time each fall, this year November 4.
Chad Duffaut, Chief of Fire Prevention, recommends residents use the “extra” hour they save from the time change to test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, planning “two ways out” and practicing those escape routes with the entire family.
For more information about fire safety call: 985-646-4387