All Delaware fire stations will again offer free smoke detectors and replacement batteries to residents that visit from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.

Delawareans can receive free smoke detectors or replacement batteries, along with fire prevention information, when they visit. Anyone requiring assistance installing smoke detectors is encouraged to ask fire department personnel to help them.

The smoke from a residential fire can overpower someone in as little as two minutes, especially while asleep. Working smoke detectors are an essential early warning device in the event of a fire. Residents need to understand the importance of having working smoke detectors on every level of their homes, particularly near sleeping quarters. They also need to recognize that replacing detector batteries once every year is vital.

Since Wake Up Delaware began in 2002, firefighters throughout the state have distributed more than 100,000 smoke detectors and 60,000 replacement batteries to state residents, all free of charge. This is the eighth year for the statewide distribution event, funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Fire Administration, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

As in the previous seven years, the 2009 Wake Up Delaware campaign occurs on the same weekend as the nation changes clocks back to Standard Time. The Wake Up Delaware program reminds residents to ensure smoke detectors are working by putting new batteries in them when they change their clocks every fall. Fire stations have ample inventories of smoke detectors and replacement batteries for Delaware residents that need them, along with fire prevention information.

Wake Up Delaware is sponsored by the Delaware Volunteer Firefighters’ Association and its more than 6,000 members statewide.