Fire department's around the country are reminding us all to change out the batteries in our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors when we're changing our clocks back this weekend as part of switching back from daylight saving to standard time.

High River Fire Department Deputy Chief Trevor Allan says it's always a good idea to replace the entire unit every few years as they don't always make their 10 year life-span.

"They're available at any local hardware store. And if you're not sure on how exactly the unit's work, or where to put them. Just give us a call here at the station and we'll be more than happy to help you out."

Allan says now is also a good time to change the filter in your furnace, as a dirty filter can be a fire hazard.

He says it's also a good idea heading into winter, to have any gas powered appliances such as furnaces, hot water tanks, fire places, garage heaters or gas stoves cleaned and serviced.

Otherwise the switch-over from daylight to standard time happens at 2 A.M. Sunday morning.

Here's some interesting tidbits about why we change the clocks,

Introduced by Germany in 1916 as a means to save coal.

Newfoundland introduced the Daylight Savings Time Act in 1917.

Saskatchewan, parts of BC and 79% of the planet’s population do not change their clocks.

In a 2001 paper in the Journal of Sleep Medicine, researchers analyzed 21 years of U.S. collision data and found a 10% increase in fatal crashes around the “fall back” change.

Pedestrians are three times as likely to be hit and killed by cars right after the switch than in the month before DST ends.