Don't Forget to Change Your Clocks and Smoke Detector Batteries

Your , together with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the energizer bunny, remind our residents that, on Nov. 6 at 2 a.m., all clocks must be set back to Standard time.

In doing so, we promote the reminder to change your smoke detector batteries. Each year smoke detectors save lives. Each year lives are lost do to a non-operational smoke detector. Protect yourselves and your loved ones.

Join us this Nov. 6 and change your smoke detector batteries.

Today, more than 6,200 Fire Departments nationwide participate in the "Change Your Clock Change Your Battery" campaign helping to save countless lives. Your East Meadow Fire Department is no exception.

When the campaign was first launched, Energizer and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) also launched a public education campaign, presenting some disturbing statistics and a hopeful one rewarding:

• 96 percent of U.S. homes have smoke alarms, but 20 percent of those alarms do not work, meaning 25 million homes are at risk. 
• 80 percent of fires are in homes without smoke alarms.
• 80 percent of child fire fatalities occur in homes without working smoke alarms.
• An average of 540 children under the age of 14 die each year in a home fire. 
• Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home nearly in half by providing an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape.

According to Carl Pugliese, Chief of the East Meadow Fire Department, we live smoke alarms day in and day out in our responses to your emergencies. Although much of our community follows these important instructions, we still see homes today, without detectors, or with detectors missing battery after we open them.

Pugliese strongly recommends that should a battery need replacing at times when a spare is not available, the resident must leave the cover off the detector to serve as a reminder of the need. There have been many times over the past years where we responded to a fire, and the detectors failed for such reasons, Pugliese added.

Although the campaign is critical to smoke detectors, we urge our residents to change the batteries in their carbon monoxide detectors at the same time. The members of the East Meadow Fire Department urge all residents of our community to change your batteries today.

Anyone having questions on the proper use and/or installation of your home smoke or carbon monoxide detectors are welcome to call the Chiefs Office at 516-542-0580.