"Change your clocks, change your batteries:" Daylight Saving Time a good opportunity to check smoke alarms

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- As Daylight Saving Time ended, and we turned our clocks back an hour this weekend, fire officials hoped we would also take time to check our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and change the batteries if needed.

It's something fire officials stress every time there's a fire: working smoke detectors can save lives.

"It's a simple, inexpensive safety feature that everybody should have," Lt. Zach Zimmer with the Greenfield Fire Department said.

Fire officials say turning our clocks back as Daylight Saving Time ends provides the perfect opportunity to check those smoke detectors.

"Change your clocks, change your batteries," Lt. Zimmer said.

Officials with the North Shore Fire Department went door-to-door on Sunday morning, November 2nd to make sure homeowners remember to check their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

The Lasic family bought their home a year ago, and they admitted Sunday they hadn't checked the smoke detector on the home's first floor.

"We can hardly even hear it," North Shore Fire Captain Wike Weber said.

Fire officials changed the batteries, but that wasn't enough. This smoke detector was just too old.

"That detector's probably been up there for over 10 years, so I recommend that you do change it," Captain Weber said.

"We had no idea that you had to actually replace the fire detector itself. If there was an emergency, that could have been detrimental to our family, so I am so thankful they came today," Sara Lasic said.

Fire officials installed a brand new smoke detector in the Lasic's home, and checked the others to make sure they were functioning properly.

In sixty percent of house fires that involve a death, the home doesn't have working smoke detectors. That's why it's so important to make sure to change your smoke detector batteries and ensure the detector is working properly.

If you need a smoke detector, you're urged to contact your local fire department to receive one.

The Milwaukee Fire Department has a Smoke Detector Hotline for those who are in need of a smoke detector.

That hotline number is: 414-286-8980.