Check smoke detectors as you change your clocks

COLUMBIA, Mo, (KMIZ)

Along with the new time change, crucial life-saving reminders emerge. Fire departments are urging citizens to adjust their clocks and change the batteries in smoke detectors.

Jeffery Heidenreich with the Columbia Fire Department said fire alarms are life-saving devices. The fire department sees an overwhelming number of deaths or injuries resulting from malfunctioning smoke detectors, emphasizing the importance of early notification during a fire.

"Fire growth is exponential, which means that a small fire will become a very big fire in a very short period of time," Heidenreich said. "So having that early notification that there's some kind of emergency or a fire event occurring and then taking action on that."

Additionally, the fire department strongly encourages homeowners to invest in carbon monoxide detectors, as carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, making it undetectable by humans. The alarm can detect it. Given its lethality, officials stress the importance of this precautionary measure.

"Unfortunately, a number of people lose their lives to CO every year, and the unfortunate thing is that people will often ignore the alarms when they go off because they can't detect that anything is wrong," Heidenreich said.

The Columbia Fire Department offers free smoke detectors to homeowners and encourages their installation on every level of the house and in every room. Interested individuals can visit their station to receive one.