City of Norfolk Fire Marshal, Terry Zwiebel, has an easy way to remember when to change the batteries in your smoke alarm: “Change your clocks, change your batteries!”

The Norfolk Fire Division would like to remind everyone that Sunday, November 7th, is the day we all change our clocks one hour as we “fall” back to standard time. This weekend is a great time to change the batteries in all of your smoke alarms.

Smoke alarms are your first line of defense when it comes to letting you know that there is a fire in your home. If you wait to change the batteries until they beep, they may or may not work. Even if you have smoke alarms that use the power from your house wiring system, the backup battery needs to be changed.

If your smoke alarms are older than 10 years in service – you can tell by a date stamped on the back of your detectors – the whole alarm needs to be replaced.

This weekend would be a great time to practice your fire escape plan with everyone in the house.  This message is brought to you by the Norfolk Fire Division