Do you know how old the smoke alarms are in your home? Don’t wait. Check the date. As part of National Fire Prevention Week, the Hudson Fire Department is urging residents to not only change the batteries in their alarms, but also to check the date. Smoke alarms should be replaced 10 years from the date on the back of the alarm, not the date of purchase, to ensure they will work properly in a fire. Three out of five home fire deaths in 2009-2013 were caused by fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms, so the importance of knowing the age of your smoke alarms is critical.
Smoke alarms should also be tested monthly, and batteries should be replaced once a year or when they begin to chirp, signaling that they’re running low. A good practice to get into is testing your smoke alarms when Daylight Savings Time begins and ends.
The Hudson Fire Department kicked off Fire Prevention Week with an open house yesterday. Families enjoyed their time learning about fire safety and weather safety while seeing firefighting up close. They also learned valuable information about smoke alarms.