Firefighters are reminding you to set your clocks one hour ahead and change the batteries in your home's smoke alarms on Saturday.

The time officially changes at midnight on Saturday so you will lose one hour of sleep.

Firefighters recommend that Saturday is also a good time to check your smoke alarms as well. Smoke alarms play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries.

In addition to changing the batteries in the smoke alarms, the following steps are recommended to keep a home fire safe:

* Dust or vacuum smoke alarms when batteries are changed.

* Test smoke alarms once a month with the test button.

* Replace the entire alarm if it's more than 10 years old or doesn't work
properly when tested.

* Install smoke alarms on every level of the house, including the basement,
and both inside and outside of sleeping areas.

* Make sure everyone in the house understands the warning of the smoke alarm
and knows how to respond.

DeKalb residents are encouraged to sign up for CodeRED to be included on the county's calling list when an emergency situation arises in the county. The CodeRED system gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly into the system's database.

To sign up for CodeRED, individuals and businesses should log onto DeKalb County's website at www.DeKalbCountyGA.gov and follow the link to the "CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment" page. Those without Internet access may call DeKalb County Emergency Management at 770-270-0413, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. ­ 5 p.m., to supply their information over the phone.