Daylight Savings Time kicks in at 2 a.m. Sunday, and the American Red Cross has a reminder for households across the country: Turn your clocks ahead one hour, and test your smoke detectors.

Check Your Smoke Alarm Batteries

When you turn the clocks ahead, take a few minutes to replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and push the test button to make sure the alarms are working. It’s also a great time to check your carbon monoxide detectors.

How Can I Maintain My Smoke Alarms?

Smoke alarms save lives. You should:

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.

Check monthly that smoke alarms are working properly by pushing the test button.

Replace batteries in smoke alarms at least once a year.

Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.

Am I Ready If A Fire Occurs?

In addition to checking and replacing smoke alarm batteries, households should take a second important step in fire safety. Planning for fire emergencies is important, so all families should practice fire drills at home.

Make sure all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home, and set up a meeting place outside in case of a fire. Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year and at different times of the day.

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation’s blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. The Gold Country Region serves a 24 county territory including Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba counties. For more information, visit www.redcross.org/goldcountry or follow them on Twitter @RCSierraDelta.