Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries!

Spring Ahead This Weekend – Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries
Posted on 03/10/2021
The Charlottetown Fire Department hopes the public will make the most of the extended hours of daylight this weekend as clocks “spring ahead” by one hour for the start of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, March 14. The department encourages the public to use this time to change batteries in smoke alarms and test them.

Smoke alarms are one of the best ways to prevent fire-related injuries or death. Batteries should be replaced every six months, and there should be a working smoke alarm in every sleeping room and every level of the home. Smoke alarms should also be tested monthly and replaced every 10 years.

It is also important to know where and how to store depleted or near-dead batteries to prevent fires. Nine-volt batteries are not to be stored with paper clips, coins, pens, or other batteries. Wool and aluminum foil should also be kept away from these items, as any of these can touch the two posts of the battery and cause a short circuit, igniting a flame. Batteries should be stored standing up, without other types of batteries in the same drawer with them. New batteries should be kept in the original packaging or covered with masking or electrical tape, if loose. Batteries should not be thrown away with trash and should be taken to collection sites after the posts have been covered with tape.

Citizens should ensure they recycle old batteries from their smoke alarms. Batteries that end up in the landfill can harm wildlife and the environment. Improperly stored batteries can also be a fire hazard. For information on recycling batteries and proper battery storage, visit: https://www.call2recycle.ca/recyclemybatteries/

For more fire prevention tips or information about the Charlottetown Fire Department, visit: www.charlottetown.ca/fire