Local emergency personnel want to make sure you do a lot more than turn your clocks back one hour this weekend. Sunday marks the end of the Daylight Savings Time for much of the country including Wisconsin, which requires clocks and watches to be reset. It provides a nice reminder to those with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they operate as they should. Ephraim Fire Chief Justin MacDonald says checking your batteries and your unit’s expiration date is very important.

In fires in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate, over 40 percent of them had missing or disconnected batteries. The National Fire Protection Association also reports that the death rate per 1,000 reported home fires is more than twice as high in homes that did not have a functional smoke alarm compared to the ones where they worked.