Wick Candles create Unnecessary Fire Hazards

Who doesn’t love a candle?

They are pretty to look at and we use them to decorate our homes; Scented Candles make us happy because they smell great; the flickering of the candle flame is pretty and creates a really nice & relaxing ambiance to any environment; etc.  Candles are great when there is a power outage to light up your house.  Great Gifts!  Everyone has received, at one point or another, a candle as a gift!

Wicked Candle Alternative – Scentsy Wickless Candles!

Scentsy’s Warmers and Plug-in come in over 40 styles/designs, new warmers are introduced monthly and every spring and fall Scentsy rolls out NEW Warmers for the changing seasons.  All the warmers are electric powered and have light bulbs with peep holes emitting pools of light or even creating a ‘glow’ on the warmers.  Scentsy has over 80 scents to choose from in collections such Bakery, Romance, Scentsy Man, Cafe’, Spa, etc.  Our Scents are warmed from their wax base from our ‘warmers’ creating the most fragrant scent throw you can find!  They are safe to touch (warm, not hot), the wax won’t burn you and there is no harmful soot or flames to start a fire.  We also have Room Sprays, Car Fresheners, Travel Tins, etc. from all of the scent collections.

U.S. Home Candle Fire Statistics 2002-2005

*Data from the US Fire Association
U.S. fire departments responded to 15,600 home1 structure fires that were
started by candles in 2005. These fires caused
• 150 civilian fire deaths;
• 1,270 civilian fire injuries; and
• $539 million in direct property damage.
Overall, candles caused 4% of reported home fires, 5% of the home fire deaths, 10% of the home fire injuries, and 8% of the direct property damage in reported home fires

• On average, one home candle fire was reported every 34 minutes.
• More than half of all candle fires started when something that could burn, such as furniture, mattresses or bedding, curtains, or decorations, was too close to the candle.
• In one-fifth (20%) of the fires, the candles were unattended or abandoned.
• Almost two-fifths of home candle fires begin in the bedroom, although the candle industry found that only 13% of candle users burn candles in the bedroom most often.
• December is the peak time of year for home candle fires. In December, 13% of home candle fires began with decorations compared to 4% the rest of the year.
>>The top five days for home candle fires were Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Halloween.

Candle Product Recalls
In the past few years there have been product recalls on the following:

• Yankee Candle – Haunted House Screen tea lights candles 2009.  The window panes on the screens could ignite
• Swiss Colony – Money Bag Candle 2006.  The decorations on the candle can ignite and hot wax can pool out of the candle creating fire hazard
• Pier 1 – Silver & Gold Glitter Tea Lights 2010.  The flame of the candle can ignite the glitter
• Pier 1 – Ceramic Santa Tea Light Holders 2009.  The fame can ignite the ceramic candle holder
• Walgreens -  Five Finger Decorative Novelty Candles for Halloween 2005.   These candles generate high flames
• Bath & Body Works – 773000 Votive Candles.  They were burning with high or irregular flames
• Spa at Home – 2nd recall of Gel Candles.  Excessive flame heights
• IKEA -  133000 packages of outdoor candles 2006.  The candles wax can catch fire causing a high flame

I found tons of recalls on products from companies that I have personally purchased candles from in the past.  This isn’t to say that they don’t have safe products in any way (I still have a couple Yankee Candles for power outages) but really, candle fire safety is a serious issue and you should know the risks of using them in your home.

Safety Precautions to use when using Lit Candles

**Data from the National Candle Association

A study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission suggests that 85 percent of candle fires could be avoided if consumers followed three basic safety rules:

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Never burn a candle on or near anything that might catch fire.
• Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets.

No Worries with Scentsy Candles

• With Scentsy Wickless Candles you CAN leave a warmer on, even when you’re not home without fear of the fire.
• You can put a Scentsy Warmer wherever you have an outlet.  If the warmer is accidentally tipped over you only have to worry about cleaning up the wax and perhaps getting a new light bulb (if it breaks) or a new warmer if broken from the fall.
• Our kids have them in their rooms as nightlights and they are on 24/7.  They aren’t fascinated by the flame of a candle any longer and they aren’t playing with the wax.  If they touch they warmer they don’t get burned and if they spill the wax on themselves then really…they just end up smelling good but aren’t burnt!

I wrote this post today because my 8yr old son, Sam, bumped into the Plug-in Warmer we have in the kids’ bathroom.  It spilled a little wax on the counter and on the outside of the warmer.  He came to tell me what he’d done and was worried about the wax.  In the past I would have to tell him and his sister, when a candle was lit in the bathroom, to not play with the wax or blow out the candle.  I would always find the candles blown out or drips of wax on the counter from them sticking their fingers in it.  I would get mad at them because I didn’t want them to get hurt, make a mess or worse…start a fire!  With Scentsy, I just don’t worry about fire safety any longer while still getting all the benefits of having candles and more!

Wendy