Fire officials urge residents to change batteries in alarms

When you change your clocks tonight, remember to change batteries as well.

Fire officials urge you to use the fall time change as a reminder to change the batteries in home smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.

While many carbon monoxide detectors plug in to outlets, they often have a battery backup, said Dena Schumacher, spokeswoman for the Champaign Fire Department.

Models differ widely, she said, so to find more information on your model, it's best to check with the manufacturer. Most have Web sites.

Schumacher said nearly 60 percent of the calls the Champaign department receives about carbon monoxide detectors involve the need for new batteries.

The department had received more than 160 such calls the first nine months of this year.

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