Smoke detectors usually have a test button. Make sure you do not damage the smoke detector by getting a heat source too close to it. If you are a tenant, your landlord is required to provide a working smoke detector for you when you move in. Steam from a shower can also set off smoke detectors. If you have already replaced the battery, vacuuming your smoke detector, or blowing it out with compressed air will sometimes cure the chirp.
Smoke detectors have a life of approximately ten years.
We recommend you replace your smoke detector if it is older than that. Contact the Fire Department at 766-6961 for more information. Since all of the Corvallis firefighters can perform at least basic life support, if a fire engine is closer to the emergency, we will have it respond in addition to the ambulance. If the emergency is a motor vehicle accident, a heart attack, or other life-threatening emergency, we often need more than just the three EMTs who accompany the ambulance. That's why we sometimes send a fire engine.