Fire nearly destroys Beeston bore’s bedroom despite using safest type of candles

Hapless candle lovers nearly destroyed their house when their curtains caught fire. 

Two Nottingham students called the fire service to their boring Beeston dwelling on October 11 when the fire started in their bedroom.

One of the medic students told the Nottingham Post: “It was a shock to see the curtains go up because we’d used the safest type of candles.

“It’s not the nicest thing to see in your bedroom.”

Apparently even the safest type of candle will still burn flammable material which it is put near.

Her housemate, 27, said: “The fire service were here within two minutes of us calling. They were really good. I called them as soon as I saw the flames.

“Our other housemate was out at the time and he was a bit surprised to hear what had happened when we called him.

“Fortunately is didn’t spread anywhere else in the house. There was some damage to the frame of the window and obviously the curtains were burnt but that was it.

“The fire fighters told us to be more vigilant with candles in the future.”

Despite arriving on the scene within two minutes of the emergency call, firefighters were unable to prevent damage to the curtains and window frame.

Fortunately the students noticed the flames early on and as such firefighters restricted the damage to a small area.

Had the fire been allowed to spread we might have had another Jubilee fire on our hands.

Most student letting agencies specify in contracts that candles are not to be used and that using them may affect your insurance.

Many students choose to ignore this rule however, as 2nd year student Rebecca tells us.

She said: “My landlord won’t let us have candles at all, but I still use them. I’m not an idiot, I never leave a candle burning when I’m not in the room.”

A recent council meeting discerned the cause of the Jubilee fire to be the result of a flammable building material – wood. Perhaps the cause of this house fire is as obvious as this – a candle.

Mariette Mifflin, resident candle guru at About.com offered these sage words for students thinking of lighting candles in their rooms:

1) Stability: The candle should be in a sturdy holder on a stable platform. Low pillars are better than tippy tapers.

2) Safety: Keep it away from anything flammable (no shelf above or curtain near)

3) Monitor Closely: Never, ever leave a lit candle unattendedThe Tab advises caution when playing with fire.