Amador County – The local California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recommended this week that as people change their clocks for the end of Daylight Savings Time this weekend, they should also change the batteries of important gadgets in the home, including smoke and other detectors.

Nancy Longmore, fire prevention specialist with the Tuolumne-Calaveras unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said in an e-mail this week that as Daylight Savings Time ends, people should change the batteries in their clocks and smoke detectors.

Daylight savings time ends Sunday November 7th, and people “fall back,” setting their clocks at 2 a.m. to be back by one hour, to Standard Time. Longmore said: “This is a great time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.”

She said “almost every day a smoke detector saves somebody’s life, but only when the smoke detectors are maintained and working properly.” To keep your smoke detector in proper working order, CDF recommends testing all smoke detectors on a monthly basis.”

They also should be maintained by changing the batteries twice a year, and vacuuming them once a year, because dust and cobwebs can impair sensitivity of the detectors.

Smoke detectors should be installed in hallways that lead to all sleeping areas; in basements; and in each additional level of your home.

Longmore said the “life you save may be your own or that of a loved one.”

For more information, see www.fire.ca.gov.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.