Seaside Fire talks smoke alarms and when you should change them

With Daylight Saving Time ending this weekend, many will be ‘Falling Back.’

But along with winding back the clocks, fire departments are recommending another important change. Ben Flores with the Seaside Fire Dept. says, “You typically want to change out the batteries [in your smoke detector] about twice a year. So Daylight Saving Time.. you know spring and fall.. is actually a pretty good reminder of when to do that.”

And as technology improves, so does safety. “If you have something like this, they last for 10 years,” says Ben.

Newer smoke detector models can last up to 10 years. You don’t have to change the batteries with these systems, just swap out the alarm once every decade… but it’s still important to test them. “So that’s what this button on the bottom is for. Just push it once,” says Ben.

Seaside firefighters say you only have about 2-3 minutes to get out of your home safely once you hear the alarm. Flores says don’t worry about your gathering your belongings, getting out should be the main priority.

Hopefully you’ll never find yourself in that situation, but you should always have a plan on where to go and meet up.