Public Safety Announcement: Fire Prevention – Check Smoke Alarm and CO Detector Batteries When You Turn Back Your Clocks

Date:                   October 30, 2026

Contact:           Casey Hollins
                        Managing Director—Communications and Public Relations
                        (540) 891-5908, news@myrec.coop 

 

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) encourages members to use the time change as a reminder to check smoke alarms and Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors. Fire safety is more than responding — it’s preventing. Working smoke alarms and CO detectors are safe, reliable early warning systems that can save lives.  

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has found the risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half for homes with working smoke alarms; it is recommended to place smoke alarms in and outside every sleeping room of a house. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that every home should also have a CO detector. CO detectors should be in a central location outside sleeping areas and on every level of the home. 

All smoke alarms and CO detectors should be tested monthly. NFPA recommends replacing batteries twice a year, using daylight savings as a reminder. If your detectors haven’t been replaced in over ten years, consider buying new systems that you can rely on for early and fast warnings.  

For more fire prevention and home safety information, please visit myrec.coop/simple-prevention-steps-make-your-home-safer. 

About Rappahannock Electric Cooperative 

Serving more than 185,000 connections across portions of 22 Virginia counties, REC is a pillar in its communities, with over 18,000 miles of power lines extending from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.