'Change Clock, Change Battery' campaign begins Published Oct. 28, 2005 By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- As residents turn their clocks back one hour this weekend and revert to standard time, defense safety officials urge them to change their smoke alarms batteries, too. Daylight-saving time ends 2 a.m. on Oct. 30, the last Sunday in the month. Clocks "fall back" one hour and standard time resumes. For the past 18 years, the International Association of Fire Chiefs has used the time change as an opportunity to remind people to change smoke alarms batteries as well -- a campaign the Air Force wholeheartedly endorses, said Col. Art Kaminski, a Defense Department safety officer. "It's an appropriate time to remind people to change their batteries," Colonel Kaminski said. House fires are the leading type of fires within the military, and most of those fires can be traced to unattended cooking, he said. Fire chiefs association officials attribute the "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" campaign with helping reduce the number of injuries and deaths caused by fires. Still, more than 3,000 Americans are killed each year in fires, most in one- and two-family homes. About one-third of those killed are under age 20. Defense Department firefighters responded to nearly 30,000 residential fires since January 2004, Colonel Kaminski said. These incidents took nine lives and injured 50 people, as well as 12 Defense Department firefighters, and caused more than $7 million in damage, he said. Not all these fires occurred on military installations, Colonel Kaminski said, noting that Defense Department fire departments also support firefighting efforts in surrounding communities. Fire officials say the few minutes required to maintain a smoke alarm can mean the difference between life and death in the event of a fire. "A minute spent changing the batteries can save a lifetime of grief," said Bill Killen, association president and fire chief at Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Tenn. "A working smoke detector provides an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape," Mr. Killen said. This is particularly important for those at highest risk of dying in a home fire: children and seniors, he said. All Defense Department housing units are required to have smoke alarms, Mr. Killen said, but he pointed out, "They only work properly with functioning batteries." Ninety-six percent of American homes have at least one smoke alarm, yet officials estimate that 23 percent of them don't work, mostly due to dead or missing batteries. This means that about 25.6 million households have nonworking smoke alarms and another 6 million have no smoke alarms. Nationwide, roughly 80 percent of all fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms, officials reported. Half of the home fire deaths resulted from fires in the 5 percent of homes with no smoke alarms. In addition to changing the batteries on their smoke alarms at least once a year, officials recommend testing detectors each month and replacing them every 10 years.