Mason City Fire Department says check smoke detectors during Fire Prevention Week

MASON CITY — This is National Fire Prevention Week.

Mason City deputy chief of training Randy Elsbernd says this year’s theme is “Smoke Alarms: Make them work for you”.  “It’s kind of amazing how many houses there are yet with either one or no smoke detectors. The big push this year is make them work for you, so install them, make sure you have more than one at various different locations in the houses and so on. Test them monthly, change the battery at least annually, and then every ten years replace the whole unit.”

Elsbernd says new smoke detectors aren’t like the ones you bought decades ago.  “The technology gets better every year, so they’re going to work more for us. As long there’s a battery in there, it’s a working unit that works 24/7, and together, we can make a big difference in saving lives.”

Mason City firefighters will be visiting schools this week to make presentations to kindergarten through second grade students.