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Health & Fitness

Change Batteries in Smoke and CO Alarms This Weekend

It's that time of the year to move our clocks ahead with Daylight Savings Time. It's also a great time to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

The is urging citizens to replace batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms this weekend for Daylight Saving Time.  Fresh batteries allow your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to alert family members of a fire or a buildup of deadly carbon monoxide in their homes.  Two-thirds of fire deaths occur in homes where there are no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. That's why it's important to replace batteries at least once every year and to test your alarms every month to make sure they work. The Greenfield Fire Department recommends citizens have smoke alarms on every level of their home, outside bedrooms and inside each bedroom (get in the habit of sleeping with your bedroom door closed...remember our sense of smell is dulled while we sleep). 

CO is called the "invisible" or "silent" killer," because it is a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas.  Because of this, people may not know they are being poisoned.  Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning of fuel in various products, including furnaces, portable generators, fireplaces, cars and charcoal grills.  That is why it is important to have working CO alarms in the home, on each level and outside each sleeping area. 

Furthermore, the Greenfield Fire Department recommends citizens have a comprehensive fire protection plan to include but not limited to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, residential sprinklers, and practicing Exit Drills In The Home (E. D. I. T. H.)

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Take care and stay safe!

Battalion Chief J. Mollet

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