Daylight-savings back in April
By Daily Press staff
The time is here once again when nearly all Americans have extra time on their hands.
With the Halloween ghosts and goblins gathering, most of the nation is preparing to set clocks back an hour with the return of standard time. As a result, nights will become longer and days will be shorter.
The clocks change officially at 2 a.m. Sunday. Most people will make the change before going to bed Saturday night.
Daylight-saving time returns April 2. The change does not affect Arizona, Hawaii or the portions of Indiana in the Eastern time zone, which do not observe daylight time. Congress has voted to change the dates for daylight-saving time, but that doesn’t take effect until 2007.
The Santa Monica Fire Department suggests that when you do set your clock back on Sunday, you also change the battery in your smoke detector.
Far too many communities across the United States experience the tragedy of home fire fatalities each year, said Walter Shirk, SMFD’s division chief of training.
Approximately 1,000 children under the age of 20 die annually in house fires — an average of nearly three children each day. A working smoke detector can dramatically reduce that number, Shirk added.
Although smoke alarms are present in 95 percent of American homes, 20 percent do not work due to worn or missing batteries, meaning nearly19 million homes are at needless risk, Shirk said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.