Fire dept.’s battery-changing program likely saved elderly man’s life | Community Spirit

CALABASH, NC (WECT) – An elderly man’s life may have been spared Tuesday night thanks to the recent installation of new batteries in his smoke detector, Chief Randy Bork confirmed.

The batteries were changed in the man’s home, along Carter Drive, as part of a fire safety program called Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery. The program allows firefighters to change batteries in the smoke detectors of local community members when setting clocks back for daylight-saving time.

The fire broke out in the man’s heating unit while he was asleep, and the smoke detector alerted him to wake up and allowed him to leave his home safely and call 911.

Bork said that the fire, though not a large one, was difficult to put out.

Energizer is part of the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery program, and this year, the company donated more than 250,000 batteries to fire departments nationwide, according to a news release regarding the fire.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.