Change those clocks, and don’t forget those batteries

Firefighters remind people it’s also time to replace batteries in smoke detectors throughout homes.Change your clock, change your batteries.

Local fire departments say it’s more than just a slogan.

This Sunday, as Newport-Mesa residents set the clocks back one hour, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach fire departments encourage residents to change the batteries in home smoke alarms.

It’s a cheap and easy way to save your life, fire officials said.

“Smoke detectors do save lives -- they save lives because they provide an early warning to residents,” said Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard.

Most house fires occur between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when people are asleep, Broussard said. That’s when smoke detectors are most important, because they wake up people and give them time to get out of the house, Broussard said.

Children and seniors are most at risk in a house fire, said Newport Beach Battalion Chief Ralph Restadius. The smoke detector provides those few extra minutes they may need to get out safely. In a house fire, people aren’t usually injured or killed by the fire, but instead by inhaling harmful smoke.

“The thing with smokes detectors is they’re cheap ... new batteries don’t cost that much,” Restadius said. “For what you pay and what you get, it’s a great deal.”

When the smoke detector goes off, there is sometimes between 15 and 20 minutes before the smoke lowers from the ceiling to the floor, closer to where someone might be sleeping. If there is an active fire, a sleeping person could begin to breathe in smoke and die in their sleep, Broussard said.

There have been eight house or apartment fires this year in Newport Beach, causing more than $875,000 in damage and taking the life of a 90-year-old woman.

In Costa Mesa, there have been fires in residences, resulting in an estimated $62,000 in damage.

Smoke detectors should be placed throughout a residence, in a common hallway and on top of the stairwell. The smoke detector should also be installed somewhere where it can be easily accessed to change and test the batteries, Broussard said.