Daylight Savings Time Begins Tonight

Don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight for Daylight Savings Time. 

And when you change your clocks, take a few extra minutes to change the batteries in your smoke alarms.

"Smoke alarms provide occupants with an early warning allowing them additional time to escape," Kim Hylander with the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue said. "Smoke alarms save lives."

Deaths from home fires usually happen in homes with no smoke alarms. When a death occurs in a home with a smoke alarm, it is usually because the smoke alarm failed to go off, in many cases because the battery had died, she continued. 

PWC Fire and Rescue offered these tips: 

• Place a smoke alarm on every level of your home including the basement and inside and outside sleeping areas.   
• Check smoke alarms monthly by pushing the test button.  If you cannot reach the button easily, use a broom handle.  
• Change the batteries in your alarms at least once a year or each time you change your clock. (spring forward, fall back).
• Do not remove the batteries from your smoke alarms to put in other appliances.  
• The life span of a smoke alarm is 8-10 years and the entire alarm should be replaced during this time (consider installing a ten-year lithium battery-powered smoke alarm, which is sealed so it cannot be tampered with or opened).
• Hard-wired smoke alarms with battery back-ups need to be tested monthly and batteries replaced yearly.  
• Keep smoke alarms clean. Vacuum or dust your smoke alarms according to manufacturer’s directions to keep them working properly.
• Teach children what the smoke alarm sounds like and what to do in the event it sounds.

• Open a window or door and press the “hush” button,
• Wave a towel at the alarm to clear the air, or
• Move the entire alarm several feet away from the location.