The National Fire Alarm code recommends a minimum of one smoke alarm on each level of a home, including one inside each bedroom in new construction and one outside each sleeping area.

Because smoke rises, alarms should be placed on the ceiling. If this can’t be done, install them as high on the wall as possible.

Smoke alarms should be tested every month.

Vacuum smoke alarms every six months. Dust can clog a smoke alarm, making it ineffective. Test your alarms after cleaning them.

Replace your old alarms. Smoke alarms more than 10 years old should be replaced.

Make sure everyone in the house know how to escape in case the fire alarm sounds. Plan two ways out of each room and have a pre-arranged meeting place outside. The peak time for residential fires is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

— Information from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety

The state fire marshal and local fire department officials are asking area residents to change their batteries in their smoke alarms when they go to turn back their clocks one hour on Sunday.

According to a news release, residential fires claimed 38 lives in Minnesota last year — 75 percent of those deaths occurred in homes without working smoke alarms.

“Those 38 victims died without time to escape,” said State Fire Marshal Jerry Rosendahl. “An inexpensive alarm and a set of fresh batteries could have saved their lives.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association, about 96 percent of American homes have smoke alarms, but one-third of those contain dead batteries or no batteries at all.

Rosendahl said some batteries simply wear out and are not replaced, while others are sometimes borrowed for use in another device.

This habit puts families, especially the young and disabled, in real danger, he said.

“Statistically, working smoke alarms double your chances of surviving a home fire,” Rosendahl said. “Changing the batteries takes about one minute, so that’s a huge return on a small investment.”

Albert Lea Fire Chief Paul Stieler said the smoke detector is probably one of the most important safety devices people can have in their homes for fire safety.

He talked about situations where people have had smoke alarms let them know of a small dryer fire before it got out of hand.

“Being able to get early warning and self evacuate is by far the best defense you have for life safety,” Stieler said.

In many communities, people who need help installing or maintaining alarms can call the fire department for assistance.

To find out more information about smoke alarm installation, people can go to www.fire.state.mn.us and choose “Home Fire Safety” from the left menu.