CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — NewsNation reporter Nick Smith is known for his intrepid efforts to bring us important news, and Wednesday he put himself on the (home) firing line to get some important information, especially necessary during the holidays.

The danger is “friendly flames,” meaning things we bring into our homes to use for heat, light or ambiance that end up causing a conflagration. The period between November and February is the busiest of the year for home fires precisely because of these igniters.

First, Nick takes on home heating dangers with Fire Marshal John Mensching from East Dundee, Illinois. For starters, don’t use your oven to heat your home. It’s not designed to operated that way, and can produce a lot of carbon monoxide along with being a fire hazard.

If you love the ambiance of a warm fire to heat your home, be sure to keep anything flammable at least three feet away from the fire, and have your flue cleaned and chimney expected at least yearly. Also, be sure to have a screen in front of the fireplace to catch any embers bent on escaping the blaze.

Finally, when it comes to portable heaters, be sure to plug them directly into a wall socket, keep them on a hard, flat surface and clear items away from them.

With all the holiday cooking going on, especially with ovens that don’t do much more than reheat pizza the rest of the year pressed into hard service, cooking fires are a big danger at this time of year. Half of all home fires start in the kitchen, so this time Nick Smith got the assistance of Fire Chief Jason Parthun, also of Dundee.

Parthun started off talking about, well, talking. That is to say the kind of chatting and cocktail-sipping that frequently happens in the kitchen during the holidays which too easily leads to food being left unattended and going up in flames.

If something does catch fire on the stove, the natural impulse is to grab water from the sink and try to douse the fire. That’s the worst thing to do, said Parthun, saying instead you should smother the flames with a pot lid. Under no circumstances should you try to wrap a dishcloth or apron around your hand and grab a burning pot to throw outside or into the sink. The pot could spill flaming material onto your hand covering, burning you badly and spreading the fire.

A fire in the oven should be treated in much the same way. If you open your oven and see flames, close the oven door, turn the oven off and call 911 immediately. The fire crew can tell you if your oven is still safe to use or if it’s time to dig out some coupons for the local Italian restaurant and have stromboli for Christmas.

Finally, both fire professionals strongly recommended buying the proper number and type of smoke alarms. Local fire departments are more than happy to install them in the proper places for you and ensure you’re protected well.