(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The move to Daylight Saving Time is often a reminder to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.
A new report shows just how important that is, WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports.
Smoke alarms were missing batteries, broken or not present in 57 out of 87 fatal home or apartment fires in Chicago from 2020 to 2022. That's according to the Illinois Answers Project, a partnership with the Better Government Association and the Chicago Tribune.
A new city ordinance requires homeowners and landlords to install hardwired detectors or those with sealed batteries designed to last a decade, instead of removable ones that should be replaced twice a year.
The project cites exceptions letting landlords keep older alarms that require twice yearly battery changes through 2032.
Related
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram