St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 reminds us…
It’s time to “Change Your Clock / Change Your Battery”
SLIDELL, LA., March 3, 2011– As the spring 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.
An average of three children per day die 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 forward to Daylight Savings Time, this year March 11.
Neil Ricca, Chief of Fire Prevention, recommends that while residents are changing their smoke detector batteries that they take an extra few minutes to test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, and to plan “two ways out” and practice those escape routes with the entire family.
For more information about St. Tammany Fire Protection District #1 visit us at www.SlidellFire.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Captain Van Joffrion
PIO / Fire Prevention Officer
[email protected]
Cell (985) 201-5566
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