Alachua County Fire Rescue Services is once again urging people to change the batteries in their fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
Associating changing batteries with daylight saving time is a good way to ensure safety, said Mark Smith, the ACFR fire marshal. He said the fire rescue runs the Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries campaign twice a year.
“Realistically, people don’t test the systems as frequently as they should,” said Smith, 44.
People who have a working smoke alarm in their house have a 50 percent greater chance of surviving a fire, Smith said.
“Smoke is what kills in a fire,” Smith said.
Thierry Bizimungu, a 19-year-old software engineer at Daring Development Inc., recalled a house fire incident that happened about two years ago. Bizimungu said while cooking, flames and smoke billowed into the air, and the fire alarm went off.
With the help of his brother, Bizimungu slapped the flames out with a cloth. He said he doesn’t know how the story would have changed if the alarm hadn’t sounded.
Smith said residents should also rehearse a home escape plan, which includes designating a safe meeting place outside.
“It only takes one survival for that to be a success,” Smith said. “One life saved is immeasurable.”
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 11/6/2013 under the headline "Fire rescue says it’s time to change"
