Fireproof your holiday feasts

Food is a big part of holiday fun, but festivities can take your attention away from cooking and lead to fires. Cooking caused half of residential building fires in 2014, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

More cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association reports that three times as many home fires occur on that holiday compared with the average day, with Christmas Day and Christmas Eve not far behind.

“Holiday decorations and candles can also be fire hazards, but the cooktop is the most common origin of cooking f...