A Working Smoke Alarm Can Save Lives
It’s fall in Minnesota! As the weather turns colder, the clocks turn back, the heaters turn on, and the risk for fire burns sky-high. Now is the time of year to check the batteries to your smoke detectors. At SiebenCarey, we see an unfortunate number of accidents resulting from fire. One young boy died several years ago of smoke inhalation at a birthday party sleep-over because the parents of the house failed to check the batteries in their smoke alarm. He and several other party-goers would be alive today if a functional smoke detector had been in place. We urge you to protect the lives of yourself, your friends and your family, and make sure your smoke detector is up-to-date, has new batteries installed, and is in full working condition.
Most residential smoke detectors run on 9-volt alkaline or carbon-zinc batteries. When these batteries run down, the smoke detector becomes inactive. Most smoke detectors will signal a low-battery condition, but you should not rely on this to warn you to check the batteries. It is estimated that any given time, roughly 30% of the homes in the US and UK do not have working smoke detectors, simply because users remove the batteries, or forget to replace them. One simple way to remember to check your smoke alarms each year is to associate this necessary safety act with the inevitable act of turning your clocks back each fall. This year, firefighters handed out free batteries on November first to remind everyone to check the batteries in their smoke alarms when they turned their clocks back.
Please be safe this fall; remember that a working smoke detector could end up saving your life, or the life of someone precious to you.
