Mercer Island firefighters will be present at the north and south end QFCs on Saturday, March 9, as part of the “Change Your Clock Change Your Battery” program, a national home fire safety campaign.

The firefighters will be at the north end QFC from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and at the south end QFC from 1 to 3 p.m.

According to the fire department, an estimated 600 individuals under the age of 20 die in home fires each year — tragedies that can be avoided with working smoke alarms. Eighty percent of these deaths in the United States occur in homes without a working smoke alarm.

The Mercer Island Fire Department and the International Association of Fire Chiefs sponsor the program, which calls for Americans to adopt the life-saving habit of changing smoke alarm batteries when clocks are changed in the spring and fall.

QFC will be donating 9V batteries to give away on March 9 while supplies last, to be used to replace old batteries in smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors.