Daylight Savings Time Ends this Weekend. Use that Extra Hour to Help Keep your Family Safe

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Its time to reconsider the traditional “Change your Clocks, Change your Batteries” theme and instead, replace your aging smoke alarms with new long-life models.

Daylight Savings time officially ends at 2 AM this Sunday morning, a time that in the past had us rolling back all the clocks around our homes and hopefully changing the batteries in our smoke alarms. With modern technology, many of our timekeeping devices automatically update themselves and its time to also reconsider the traditional changing of smoke alarm batteries each year. Fire Safety Professionals across the country are now advocating for the replacement of older smoke alarms with new long-life alarms equipped with lithium batteries that last for up to 10 years.

Your home’s smoke alarms have a life expectancy of 10 years and after that time they lose their effectiveness and should be replaced. With the new long life alarms, residents don’t have to change batteries, they simply replace the whole alarm once every decade. Many of the newer alarms are tamper resistant, making them ideal for useful in rental properties and other locations where someone may be tempted to remove the battery.

Long before it was a national accepted standard, Montgomery County Fire Marshal Dan Welsh began advocating for the placement of smoke alarms in every bedroom and adjoining hallways after fatal fires claimed the lives of several Montgomery County children in the early 1990s. Other tragic fires since then have spurred Montgomery County Firefighters into action, and now every County Fire Department and the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office offer free smoke alarms and home safety visits to homeowners. This effort, dubbed, “Get Alarmed Montgomery County” has led to the installation of thousands of smoke alarms in area homes, including those most at risk. Statistically, children under the age of 4 and senior citizens are twice as likely to die in a home fire, with residents over 85 four times as likely to die than the average adult. Having working smoke alarms in your home cuts your chance of dying in a home fire in half.

Residents who need assistance can call or go by their local fire department or give us a call at 936-538-8288 during regular business hours. Firefighters will come to your home and install free smoke alarms in your bedrooms and hallways, helping insure you and your family will have a safe escape route and time to escape a fire in your home.

For residents that rent a home, apartment, RV, or even just a room, your landlord is required to install smoke alarms at no cost to you in every sleeping area and hallway within 7 days of receiving written notice requesting them. After your landlord installs the smoke alarms, it is your responsibility to change batteries as needed and notify the landlord if the alarm malfunctions.