March 6th, 2025
News release prepared by:
Battalion Chief Greg Orr

On Sunday March 9th, 2025, the annual spring ritual of “spring forward” will take place. The Missoula Rural Fire District (MRFD) would like to remind everyone that when it’s time to change your clocks it is also time for that other spring ritual: changing the batteries in your smoke alarms. When working smoke alarms are present in your home, the risk of dying in a home fire is cut by 60 percent. Most civilian home fire deaths continue to occur in homes with no smoke alarms or non-working alarms. Nearly one in five households (16 percent) believed all alarms would be working but had at least one functionality issue when tested, including dead batteries. Additionally, only half (51 percent) of households were always accurate about the age of their alarms. (Source: National Fire Protection Administration) At a minimum, standard smoke alarm batteries should be changed at least once a year and preferably twice a year. The fall and springtime changes are great reminders for folks to change their smoke alarm batteries. Here are a few other tips to ensure that your smoke alarm is functioning properly:

• Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the house including the basement.
• Install working smoke alarms in every bedroom and outside each sleeping area.
• Consider interconnecting your smoke alarms so that if one activates, they all activate. This can be done with hard wiring or through wireless technology.
• Today’s smoke alarms are more technologically advanced to respond to a multitude of fire conditions yet mitigate false alarms.
• Smoke rises, so make sure your smoke alarms are installed on the ceiling or high up on a wall.
• Make sure that everyone in your household knows what the smoke alarms sound like when activated and that they know two ways out of every room.
• If your smoke alarm is 10 years old or older, replace it.

Smoke alarms are a relatively inexpensive way to ensure that your family is protected in case of fire, and they can be purchased at any department or hardware store. If you need smoke alarms and cannot afford them, MRFD has a limited number of smoke alarms available at no charge. For additional information or for media inquiries please contact MRFD Station #1 at 406-549-6172.