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Public Safety Campaigns
Change Your Clock Change Your Batteries®
 November 1, 2009
The Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery® campaign is just one example of how the IAFC helps save lives.
Through our partnership with Energizer® batteries, hundreds of thousands of families now change their smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector batteries when they change their clocks back in the fall. Prevention is key to saving lives and working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half.
Change Your Clock Change Your Batteries Fire Facts
Download the CYCCYB Fact Sheet (pdf)
- 96% of American homes have at least 1 smoke alarm, but 19% do not have at least 1 smoke alarm that works, primarily due to missing or dead batteries.
- Nuisance activations were the leading cause of disabled smoke alarms. Cooking fumes and steam can cause a smoke alarm to sound. Nuisance alarms can be prevented by moving the smoke alarm farther from kitchens or bathrooms.
- On average, home fires kill 540 children ages 14 and under each year.
- Children, ages 5 and under, are 1.5 times more likely than the population, as a whole, to die in home fires.
- Seniors age 75 and older are 3 times more likely to die in a home fire.
- 10 pm to 6 am are the peak alarm times for home fire deaths—people tend to be asleep and the house is likely to be dark.
- Approximately every 3 hours a home fire death occurs somewhere in the United States.
- Two-thirds of home fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms.
- Only 23% of U.S. families have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan to ensure they could escape quickly and safely. Developing a family emergency escape plan can be crucial to everyone’s safety.
- Smoke alarms don't last forever. They should be replaced at least every 10 years.
Carbon Monoxide Facts
- Carbon monoxide is sometimes called the “the silent killer.” It is colorless, odorless and tasteless. Roughly 500 people in the United States die each year from unintentional non-fire carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
Flashlight Facts
- Candles used for light in the absence of electrical power cause one-third of fatal home candle fires.
- Candles are the third leading cause of injuries from home fires, following cooking and heating.
- When your power goes out, use flashlights instead of candles.
- Use the time change to check the batteries in your flashlights.
Sources: International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Fire Protection Association, Sense of Smell Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services
Simple Home Safety Tips Facts
Download the CYCCYB Home Safety Tips (pdf)
- Practice smoke alarm maintenance for a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths.
- A simple reminder from the International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer® Batteries: When you turn back your clocks in November, be sure to change the batteries in your smoke alarms as well as carbon monoxide detectors. This can help save lives.
- Test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors monthly to make sure they are working. Vacuum around your smoke detectors to be sure they are free of dust.
- Have at least one working smoke alarm on each level of your home.
- Install one carbon monoxide detector in a central location outside each separate sleeping area.
- Plan, discuss and practice an escape route with your family for dangerous situations such as home fires, carbon monoxide leaks and natural disasters.
- Do not rely on your sense of smell to alert you that you and/or your family are in danger of being trapped during a fire or from a carbon monoxide leak.
- Be sure not to ignore the chirping sound your smoke alarm makes when maintenance is required.
- Keep fire-starting materials away from children, including lighters, matches, cigarettes, cigars and pipes.
- Use flashlights rather than candles to light your home during power outages.
- Space heaters need space. Portable space heaters need a three-foot (one meter) clearance from anything that can burn and should always be turned off when leaving the room or going to sleep.
- Never use your oven to heat your home.
- Carbon monoxide detectors are NOT substitutes for smoke alarms.
Keep your family, friends and neighbors safe—remind them to follow these simple tips and change the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors when they change their clocks back this fall.
Get additional resources on www.energizer.com/firesafety
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