Fire Marshal Garland Cloer said that in the past year, there have been at least four documented lives saved in Iredell County thanks to working smoke detectors.
To operate properly and save lives, a smoke detector must have a battery that is also working, and to encourage folks to check those smoke detectors, fire officials have long promoted the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” campaign.
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday and folks should set their clocks back one hour before going to bed tonight. That’s also a good time to check the battery in a smoke or carbon monoxide detector and change it, if necessary.
The campaign, launched more than two dozen years ago, combines the twice-yearly time changes with the reminder to check smoke detectors as well.
Of those lives saved in the past year, three were the wife and sons of a local firefighter. Larry Keith, a Central firefighter was at work at his full-time job at the Salisbury Fire Department on the morning of Sept. 12 but his wife, Heather, and their two young sons were asleep at home in northern Iredell County.
Heather said the chirping the couple’s recently installed smoke detector woke her that morning and she saw a blanket of smoke. She darted across the home, ushering her two young sons outside. In the aftermath of the fire, Heather offered a piece of advice: “Check your smoke detectors. Make sure they are working.”
That’s good advice, Cloer said.
“The biggest thing — a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm can’t do their job if they’re not working,” he said. That’s why fire officials are so adamant about checking the alarms twice a year and about making sure homes are equipped with the detectors.
Cloer said alarms should be placed on every level of the home and outside all sleeping areas.
And alarms should be replaced every 10 years.
There are now smoke detectors with 10-year batteries, and some local fire departments have received these alarms to be put into homes in areas at high risk of fire. However, all of the fire departments in Iredell County have smoke detectors and batteries available. This week alone, the Monticello Fire Department installed 50 detectors for residents in its district.
West Iredell Fire Chief Jerry Houston said anyone interested in a smoke detector or battery can contact the fire marshal’s office at 704-878-3035.
Those living inside Mooresville or Statesville can contact the fire marshal’s offices at either 704-878-3401 or 704-664-1338.
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