Daylight Saving Time begins again Sunday morning, and the Portage la Prairie fire department would like to remind everyone that it's also time to check your smoke alarms. Fire Chief Phil Carpenter says it's a good idea to test smoke alarms monthly to make sure the batteries are working, noting it's also important to change those batteries at least once a year. Carpenter says it doesn't hurt to change them when we change our clocks, which is twice each year. He notes another thing you can do is vacuum the outside of the smoke alarm using a soft bristle attachment on your vacuum cleaner. Carpenter adds particles can build up which could make your smoke alarm more sensitive, so cleaning them will help eliminate your detector going off more often than you'd like.

He says it's usually recommended that you replace smoke alarms after ten years and ideally you want an alarm on every floor of your home, outside the sleeping areas and in each sleeping room. Carpenter notes a working smoke alarm is probably the most important piece of equipment you can have in your home because it does save lives. He adds during a fire, toxic fumes will start to accumulate and that's when a smoke alarm will activate---giving you and your family the time you need to get out and escape safely to your meeting place.