The International Association Of Fire Chiefs And Energizer’ Urge Families To “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery ” (NAPSA)—Anaverageof nearly three children under the age of 15 die each day in house fires—80 percent of these deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms. On October 28th, take a moment to double your family’s chances of surviving a homefire through one simple, powerful action—changing the batteries in your smoke alarms when you change your clock back to standard time. The “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery”” program, championed by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (ICHIEFS) and Energizer, reminds families to make this lifesaving change. Smokealarms provide the critical extra seconds of warning to get your family out alive—butonly if they work. “A residential fire impacts the life of an American family every 85 seconds, with fire deaths peaking in the winter months,” says Chief Mike Brown, president of ICHIEFS. “By encouraging families to take a proactive approachto fire safety by changing smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks each October, this program hasthe potential to truly make a difference in our battle against home fire injuries and deaths.” Although smoke alarms are present in 94 percent of American homes, 20 percent do not work due to worn or missing batteries— that means nearly 16 million homesare at needless risk. This year, use your “extra hour” to change smokealarm batteries and makefire safety a priority with your family by following theselifesaving tips: * Ensure your homeis in line with nationalfire safety standards, which recommend a minimum of one smoke alarm on each level of the house, one inside each bedroom and oneoutside each sleeping area. In addition, ICHIEFS recommends replacing smoke alarms every ten years. * Once smoke alarms have fresh batteries, make sureall family members—children in particular—know what the smoke alarm sounds like and what to do should they hearit. * Create and practice a home fire escape plan, which includes mapping two ways out and determining a meeting place away from your home. * Prepare an emergency phone list, including numbers for the fire department and immediate relatives. * Teach children how and whento call 911. * To instill important messages of fire safety in your children in a fun, non-threatening way, visit www.energizer.com for activities you can do together. There, you will also find more family fire safety tips and information on the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery”” campaign. More About“Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery”” The ICHIEFS and Energizer have been dedicated to saving lives through this simple reminder since 1987. Important lessons of fire safety are communicated to millions of people each year thanks to the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery”” program and those individuals dedicated to the cause, including more than 5,300 fire departments nationwide that implement the program in their local communities. Throughout the month of October, fire departments across the country hang banners, conduct local home fire safety fairs and visit schools to spread the message. In addition, fire departments canvass at-risk neighborhoods handing out free 9-volts, part of a donation of thousands of batteries from Energizer. For more information on the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery”” campaign, visit the program’s Web site at www.energizercom.
