'Fall Back' As Daylight Savings Time Ends

It’s just about time to set our clocks back an hour - and always a good time to freshen up the batteries in your smoke alarms.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, fire research has demonstrated that with today’s modern furnishings, fires spread much more rapidly than in the past when more natural materials were used.

Campbell River Fire Chief Dan Verdun points out that regularly testing and changing smoke alarm batteries is ‘’quite possibly the easiest, most affordable way to save lives.”

He recommends having a smoke alarm in every bedroom, outside every sleeping area, and on each floor of your home.

The Campbell River Fire Department recommends replacing smoke alarm batteries and checking carbon monoxide detectors each spring or fall, with the time change.

To keep your smoke alarms working their best, the fire department suggests the “once-a-month, once-a-year, once-a-decade” rule: test your smoke alarms once a month, replace smoke alarm batteries once a year, and replace smoke alarms every 10 years.

Campbell River’s firefighting crews make it a regular practice to provide a working smoke alarm or fresh battery when they find a home that is unprotected during the course of their duties.

Chief Verdun says they’ve installed hundreds of smoke alarms in homes over the years through the program and he makes a note to thank Pioneer Home Hardware, which recently donated 25 smoke alarms for the cause.

Clocks will “fall back” one hour for the end of Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, November 5, at 2am.