A reminder to all my neighbors

In light of the horrible, horrible tragedy in the Bronx I just wanted to remind everyone that this weekend is daylight savings which means buy your batteries for your smoke alarms and put them in.

thank you, stacey. I'm realizing I haven't checked my smoke alarms since ... I moved into this apartment two.something years ago. (or more - I'm lousy with dates) I really must change them. i kinda doubt the cats will wake me up.

Aside from DST, make sure when you plug in a space heater that it's ceramic based with tip control and auto overload shut-off and that it's not near anything flammable. Use candles sparingly. Make sure you have two exits in your apartment/house and never use double key locks. Finally, make sure you have two kinds of smoke detectors, one with a photo sensor and one with a ionization sensor. Here's part of an article from Consumer Reports: "Smoke alarms are essential for all homes. Alarms with ionization sensing best detect fast-flaming fires, while models with photoelectric sensing best detect smoke from smoldering fires. Yet the battery-powered First Alert SA302 ($30) we tested in 2001 remains the only tested alarm with both sensors."

And practice those frigging fire drills. I believe the NYFD will show you the correct way to haul ass out of you dwelling if it's burning down. They might even come to your house and give you specific instructions to conform with your layout.

Another tip: If you have a fire escape, you should check that steps are stable and that the ladder at the botton still goes down smoothly. I've never actually done this, but I've been told to and it sounds like a good idea.

My 2 cents: don't forget those CO detectors. I had a pretty scary night 10 years ago because of a leak in a kerosene heater (hopefully we don't have too many of those around any more)
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I also have a fire extinguisher clearly visable in my kitchen (not just for me, but if I have a guest, they will see it right out there in the open - ugly yes, but I don't care).

Plus, I have a nylon/metal ladder with hooks on it that I can attach to my window and climb down from the 2nd floor or roof with (no fire escape).

I have also opened the door to the roof periodically to make sure it isn't stuck and just so I know what the roof looks like in case I ever have to get on it for any reason.