WESLACO – Fire officials say with many people and children spending more time at home for the holidays, it's a good time to make sure your smoke detector is working.

It only takes a few seconds to check and see if your smoke detector is working properly.

According to Tom Hushen, the Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator, those few seconds can be the difference between life and death.

"You should always have one close to your bedroom because that's when most fire tragedies happen is when people are asleep and they don't hear the fire they don't smell the smoke and without a smoke detector it's not going to wake you," said Hushen.

There's a simple way to see if your smoke detector is still working, you'll find many of them have a button, press it and hold it down till you hear a sound. This will let you know that it's working properly.

Hushen recommends you do this test at least once a month.

"Batteries need to be changed at least twice a year and the best way to remember that is during the time changes," said Hushen.

Carbon monoxide detectors are also just as important to check.

"Especially if you have gas in your home, you should have carbon monoxide (detectors) because you can't smell that and that will also wake you up," said Hushen.

As an extra measure of safety, Hushen recommends people should have a working fire extinguisher, especially for those doing a lot of cooking this Thanksgiving.

Smoke detectors don't last forever; people should replace all of them in your home every 10 years.