Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery Nov. 3

The Farmington Hills Fire Department is joining nearly 6,000 fire departments nationwide in promoting the annual Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery campaign on Nov. 3.

Fire Marshal Jason Olszewski encourages all residents to adopt the simple, life-saving habit of changing smoke alarm batteries when they change their clocks back from daylight savings time to standard time.

“It’s an easy, inexpensive, and proven way to protect your family and your home,” he said. 

Thanks to the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery campaign, launched in 1987, home fire deaths continue to decline. Recent surveys conducted for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Consumer Products Safety Commission found that 96 percent of all homes have at least one smoke alarm, but only 75 percent have at least one working smoke alarm.

Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Smoke alarm failures usually result from missing or dead batteries or disconnected wires.

The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most 
families are sleeping. A working smoke alarm can provide the critical extra seconds needed to get people out safely.

According to the NFPA, the maximum life cycle of a smoke alarm is 10 years from the date of manufacture. If your smoke alarm does not have a manufacture date, then it is older than 10 years and must be replaced. 


The Farmington Hills Fire Department recommends purchasing smoke alarms with 10-year lithium batteries. All smoke alarms should be tested monthly.

“The Farmington Hills Fire Department has a free smoke alarm installation program,” Olszewski said. “We’ve installed hundreds of smoke alarms over the past 20 years and will continue to do so until everyone who needs them has them.” 

For information about the free smoke alarm installation program, call 248-871-2820.

Source: City of Farmington Hills press release