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Brad Jerkins

Shift Commander (A Shift) with the Ames Fire Department in Ames, Iowa, appearing on the City of Ames podcast "Ames in Focus."

Oct 6, 2026

7:35
One thing I know that we always think about when we're talking with the fire department is, uh, smoke alarms, smoke detectors, right? Obviously, we talk about those a lot, but they're pretty important, so what should we know about those?
7:45
Smoke detectors, we like to test them once a month and repl- replace the batteries in them twice a year.
7:51
We like to say, uh, when you change your clock, change your batteries.
7:54
Um, they do make now smoke detectors that have 10-year sealed batteries, so you can put them on the ceiling, test them once a month.
8:00
You never have to worry about changing the batteries or anything like that.
8:04
Smoke detectors themselves have a 10-year shelf life, so they should be replaced every 10 years.
8:09
Um, if you take them off the wall, they'll have a date on the back.

11 MINS LATER

19:03
All right, so Brad, what about you? What's something that you want people to take away from Fire Prevention Month and Week this year?

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