Changing clocks means changing smoke alarm batteries too

The Montreal Fire Department is reminding residents to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when the clocks go forward for daylight time.

“It’s a way to remind people to change the batteries of their smoke alarm two times a year at least,” said department spokesperson Louise Desrochers.

The clocks move forward Sunday, March 11, at 2 a.m..  Twice every year, firefighters try to get Montrealers to change their smoke alarm batteries at the same time the clocks change. There are around 1,000 fires on the Island of Montreal every year, and about 10 of them are fatal.

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“I don’t really think about it on a daily basis,” said Mariana Salazar Duque, who works near a Cote-des-Neiges installation the fire department set up to talk to people.

“So I guess it’s good that every time we change our schedules we change the batteries in our smoke detectors.”

Electric smoke alarms should be changed every decade, and Desrosier said people should know if the power fails, that smoke alarm will not stop working. She also recommended putting an alarm in bedrooms if the occupants sleep with the door closed, and to put at least one alarm on each floor.