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"Fall Back" Means Change Smoke Detector Batteries

Link included to contact Lincoln fire departments

LINCOLN COUNTY -- For low income and/or senior citizen residents, getting a free smoke detector is as easy as contacting the fire department that serves their residence. And having a working smoke detector cuts the chance of perishing in a house fire by half.

Firefighters across Lincoln County remind everyone that when we set our clocks back one hour 2am Nov. 1, to also check the batteries in our smoke detectors.

The other message: if you don't have a smoke detector, contact your local fire department to get one.

Boger City Fire Department recently received a grant of $1,000 from the Allied Waste Grant Committee towards installing free smoke detectors to residents of their district.

And to help drive the message home of fire safety, Lincolnton firefighters recently teamed up with Dominos Pizza of Lincolnton to check batteries in smoke detectors. If the smoke detector worked in a residence, the resident got a free pizza.

If the batteries didn't work, a new smoke detector was installed in the residence.

Click here to find the phone number to your local fire department to inquire about smoke detectors.

In neighboring Catawba County, Terri Byers with the Hickory Fire Department is hoping educating their residents may reduce fire deaths and injuries.

An average of three children per day die in a house fire, where 80 percent of the homes occur without working smoke alarms.

Terri Byers with the Hickory Fire Department is hoping that getting the word out will help reduce that startling statistic.

Byers said changing smoke alarm batteries at least once per year is simple and most effective in reducing deaths and injuries from fire, nearly cutting the risk of dying in a house fire by half.

"Remember that a smoke alarm that doesn’t work is just as bad as not having one because it gives residents a false sense of security," said Byers. "Firefighters state that the most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms is worn or missing batteries."

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