SUFFOLK, Va. - As the clocks move forward an hour, local firefighters say now is a good time for families to change out the batteries in their home smoke detectors.
Saturday, firefighters and volunteers went door-to-door in a neighborhood east of Downtown Suffolk to give out and install smoke detectors for free. The city tells News 3 crews spoke to nearly 100 people and installed nearly 40 alarms.
The Red Cross also joined the effort, providing the alarms, according to firefighters.
“It’s one of the things [you assume is] gonna work, right? It’s there and you walk by it every day and it’s fine, but unfortunately, if you’re asleep and there’s a fire in your home and nothing wakes you up, that could be deadly," said Katie Russell with Suffolk Fire & Rescue.
Russell says it's common for firefighters to respond to house fires and find smoke detectors either aren't functioning or missing entirely.
During Saturday's effort, she was partnered with volunteer Pam King, an investigator with the Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney's office. King told News 3 the mission is personal for her.
"I lost my home as a juvenile in middle school because of a fire in a dryer and we didn’t have a smoke detector installed. It wasn’t on the check list for us," she said.
In addition to helping install smoke detectors, King also spoke with homeowners about the importance of having a proper plan in place to escape their home if a fire were to break out.
The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) recommends changing smoke detector batteries every time the clocks change — twice a year — and testing them every month. The detectors themselves, including those with non-replaceable batteries, should be replaced with new ones every ten years.
Saturday, King and Russell found a detector in a home that was 24 years old. Another home didn't have one installed anywhere on its second floor.
Experts say homes should have a smoke detector outside every sleeping space, regardless of which floor it's on.
