Safe Candle Use In Your Home

Safe candle use

  • Light candles carefully and keep loose clothing and hair away from the flame.
  • Use candleholders or containers that won’t burn or tip over easily.
  • Place candleholders or containers on a sturdy, level, uncluttered heat-resistant surface.
  • Keep candlewicks trimmed to about half a centimetre or one-quarter inch.
  • Extinguish candles when they burn down to within five centimetres or two inches of their holder or when there’s about one centimetre or less than half an inch of wax remaining in their container.
  • Extinguish candles carefully, don’t spatter wax or fan the open flame.

What to do in case of a house fire

  • Put your fire plan into action and evacuate all members of your family.
  • Phone your local fire department immediately.
  • Contact your Bowmanville home insurance broker to arrange for an adjuster to handle your claim.
  • In recent years, candle use in Canadian homes has grown dramatically.
  • Candles are responsible for an increasing number of house fires, injuries and fire-related deaths.

Did you know?

  • Fires ignited by candles are the only type of ignition source that is showing an increase in the number of fires.
  • The incidence of fatalities are significant compared to the small number of fires reported.
  • Fires caused by candles are clearly preventable.

Candle safety tips

  • Never leave a burning candle unattended.
  • Keep candles away from flammable materials and liquids.
  • Keep burning candles out of reach of children and pets.
  • Don’t let children play with burning candles or wax drippings.
  • Don’t place burning candles near windows or doorways where a draft could bring the open flame into contact with combustible materials.
  • Don’t move a burning candle.
  • Use flashlights or battery-powered back-up lighting in the event of a power outage.