 October is fire prevention month and this year fire departments are encouraging residents to be safe and check the date on their smoke alarms. To make sure your home and your family are protected in the event of a fire, smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years from the date of manufacturing. The Brainerd Fire Chief tells us how simple it is to check your alarm. So you'll need to take the smoke alarm off where you have it mounted on the ceiling. Check the date on the back of the smoke alarm. It should have a date of manufacturing on the back there and if it's older than 10 years you'll want to replace that. If it's not, yeah, certainly make sure your batteries are good and put that back up on your ceiling. Now smoke alarms should be checked monthly and batteries should be replaced about every two years. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.