Daylight Savings: Fire Department Reminds to Change Smoke Alarm Batteries, Recycle in Marion and Cedar Rapids

The Cedar Rapids Fire Department is reminding people that when change your clocks for Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, to also change the battery in your smoke alarms.

And, when you change them, you can recycle the batteries at the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency locations at 1954 County Home Road in Marion and at 2250 A Street SW in Cedar Rapids.

The recommendation is to have a smoke alarm on each floor of your home, to test in monthly and change the battery at least once per year.

Here's more from the CR Fire Department:

Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of your home.  They should also be installed inside and outside of sleeping areas for maximum protection.   Test your smoke alarms monthly.  Replace batteries at least once a year or if the smoke alarm begins to “chirp” which indicates a low battery.  Some new smoke alarms allow lithium power cell batteries to be installed – these batteries may last up to ten years.  Smoke alarms themselves should be replaced after ten years.

A working smoke alarm can decrease a family’s risk of dying in a fire by nearly 50 percent.  Last year in Cedar Rapids, working smoke alarms were confirmed in only 26.1 percent of all residential fires.