All non mains powered fire alarms need a battery .. The fire service tend to fit a Fire Angel type alarm which has a non replaceable 10 year battery pre-installed. Upon installation a small tab is pulled from the casing, this activates the battery, but when the time comes and you start to get the warning bleep, you dispose of the whole alarm. It is quite normal for them to fail long before the 10 years is up.
It used to be one of my regular jobs.. fitting alarms on behalf of the fire service. In my job I worked with the vulnerable in their own homes and this gave me a view behind closed doors that not many would get to see. If I identified someone at risk, I would offer and fit all the alarms they needed, as well as a Carbon Monoxide alarm, all for free !
It was quite common to go out to an alarm that had been smashed of the ceiling using a broom, a walking stick or a crutch.. suppose it was one way of silencing it !