What is the meaning of phrase Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves?

This is an old Italian proverb, and another way of saying "Let's make the best of a bad situation." The house is on fire, which is bad....but since it's already on fire, let's huddle up by it and at least we aren't cold, so for that we can be thankful. It's kind of a tongue-in-cheek way of saying "Every cloud has a silver lining."