Before Fire Prevention Week: check your smoke alarm's age

Fire Prevention Week starts Sunday and runs through Oct. 10. This year's national theme focuses on charging lithium-ion batteries safely, and the week is also a good reminder to check your smoke alarms.

Smoke alarms do not last forever. Under NFPA 72, the national fire alarm code, smoke alarms must be replaced 10 years after their date of manufacture, as the Knightdale, N.C., fire department explains. Many people have never checked.

Here is how. Twist the alarm off its ceiling or wall plate, and look on the back or side for the manufacture date. If it is 10 years old or older, replace it. With a battery-powered alarm, you can often twist the new one onto the same plate if it is the same brand; otherwise install the new plate first. Test the new alarm with its test button once it is up.

Hard-wired alarms are different. The fire department recommends calling a qualified electrician, and if you replace one yourself, turn off the power first.

While you are up there, press the test button on every alarm in the house so everyone knows what it sounds like. If you rent, tell your landlord about any alarm that is old or not working.

Some fire departments, including Knightdale's, help residents with alarms, batteries or installation, so it is worth calling your local department if cost or a ladder is the barrier.

This afternoon's five-minute task: check the date on one alarm. If it is overdue, the rest probably are too.