Fragrance oils are pretty standard in this house. I put my little tealight in my oil burner, start ‘er up, and usually let it burn until the candle dies. They always say don’t leave candles alone, even those little tealights, but I never put much stock into that advice since I’ve never had one act unpredictably in the past. I’m careful enough to not leave it burning while I’m gone from the house, but if I’m here, it’s burning.
So, this night began ordinarily enough. It had been burning for hours. Justin got ready for bed. We had a long talk, and then me and Turk said good-night and came back out to the main part of the house to burn the midnight oil, so to speak. That’s when I saw it — flames coming straight from my kitchen counter. I let out a gasp the likes of which would rival Doc’s reaction to the flaming car in Back to the Future.
I ran over and saw my tealight and fragrance burner engulfed in flames. Staring at it in horror, I first attempted the ‘blow out’ technique as if it was a trick birthday candle. Unfortunately, that only threw the flaming tealight onto the counter starting some miscellaneous items on fire. Yelling for Justin, I heard no movement on the other side of the house and quickly ran into the kitchen looking for a quick water source.
I grabbed the first one I saw: three quarts of water in Turk’s water dish. I threw it on the flames, extinguishing them in a matter of seconds.
Now excuse me while I go clean up those three quarts of water from their current location and thank the Big Guy I happened to walk in when I did.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
hahahhahahhahah. is your counter okay? or did it sustain some damage?
Yeah it’s okay, surprisingly enough. I’m just amazed I caught it when I did. What a relief!
that’s scary! i almost burned the kitchen down once when i was frying up some beignets
Close call. I’m so paranoid that, in addition to insisting that all exterior doors are always locked, I believe candles should only burn while one is in the room. Very glad you caught it and handled it in such a professional manner. Who knew, when you bought a doggie dish, that it would save your home?
Was Turk upset that you wasted his water?
okay GREAT?!?! now i’m paranoid! i totally do that all the time, light it and just let it go! what do you think sparked the flame? any clues? the last thing i want to do is utilize my renter’s insurance!
Doc Brown’s face in response to the flaming car/trash can incident in Back to the Future was classic! Glad to hear everything worked out okay.
i was worried that dog slime may add to the fuel..good to know spit filled h2o is still good for putting out a fire. i had one candle start a tv on fire. my parents were visiting in ketchikan and my dad was watching tv…he was so engrossed that he didn’t notice the candle had melted through and flames were coming from the television. wish i remembered what show that was!
i’m pretty sure matt and i used to rewind that part in back to the future about 15 times every time we watched it