EL PASO, Texas -- Many El Pasoans will be putting up holiday decorations in the coming days, if they haven't already. And if it's not done right, it can lead to a fire.

During this time of year, the El Paso Fire Department sees an increase in house fires, and in some cases, officials said it's cause by holiday decorations or candles.

Putting up holiday lights is tradition for the Rodriguez family. They spent the entire weekend after Thanksgiving hanging hundreds of Christmas lights outside their home.

They live on Eastridge Drive where everyone puts up lights for a spectacular light show every year. But as beautiful as it may look come night time, it can be a fire hazard.

KFOX invited Hernandez to evaluate Ceci Rodriguez home now that all of her holiday lights were up.

"First of all Ceci, this is the kind of extension cord we recommend people use. This is a thicker, great extension cord," said Lt. Mario Hernandez, with the El Paso Fire Department. He was pointing to a heavy-duty extension cord.

"You're not overloading the socket, you're just connecting one item to it. Of course a lot of people try to connect a lot items to one socket, which causes it to overheat and can lead to an electrical short," said Hernandez.

He was quick to point out a safety hazard when he noticed a thin and inexpensive extension cord Rodriguez used to connect decorations on her front porch.

"Every time you have holidays and you're using lights for a long period of time, using these flimsy type of extension cords will eventually cause them (the extension cord) to heat up," said Hernandez.

During the evaluation Rodriguez got an A+ using a power strip with a surge protector. If any of the lights overheat, it will automatically shut everything off.

However, the biggest problem Hernandez found was along the trim of the roof where Rodriguez had lights outlining the home.

"Right here I can see that you used metal staples. These metal staples will eventually cut through the insulation of the Christmas light, heat up and cause a fire here in the home," said Hernandez.

"There's only two things I would change in your home: Remove the metal staples and put some plastic ones on there, and of course change the small extension cord over there," he said.

Overall, Hernandez said the Rodriguez played it safe, but there's room for improvement.

"We just try to take the safest route, and we've tried to get a lot of the bigger and high-quality extensions. I was really happy to have him come by and give us a couple of safety tips, and I'll be making those corrections," said Rodriguez.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you get ready to put up holiday decorations: Read the instructions on your holiday lights and don't overload them; don't cover extension cords with a rug or mat because it can overheat; keep extension cords and lights out of high traffic areas because they can wear and become a hazard.

If you have any questions call your local fire station.