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Home Candle Fires (Facts)
Where do candle fires start?
Forty-one percent (41%) of home candle fires started in bedrooms. These fires caused
24% of the associated deaths. Seventeen percent (17%) started in common rooms, living
rooms, family rooms or dens, resulting in 42% of the deaths. Thirteen percent (13%)
started in bathrooms, 8% began in kitchens; and 3% started in dining rooms.
What do candles ignite?
Candle fires start with a variety of items. A mattress or bedding was the item first ignited
in 12% of the home candle fires and 26% of the home candle fire deaths. Cabinetry was
first ignited in 10% of these fires, and 9% started when a curtain, blind or drapery ignited.
Only 6% started with interior wall covering, but these fires caused 22% of the deaths. Five percent started with upholstered furniture, but these fires caused 13% of the home candle fire deaths. Other leading items first ignited in home candle fires were:
• Unclassified furniture or utensils in 8%;
• Unclassified items were first ignited in 5%;
• Linen other than bedding (towels, tablecloths, etc.) in 5%;
• Clothing in 5%;
• Decorations in 4%;
• Magazines, newspapers, and writing paper in 4%; and
• Floor coverings or surfaces were first ignited in 4% of these fires.
How big is the candle problem in terms of the different materials ignited?
The U.S. Home Product Report, 1994-1998: Forms and Types of Materials First Ignited in
Fires2 provides information on the frequency of different forms of heat of ignition in fires
involving different kinds of materials.
Candles provided the heat of ignition in:
• 45% of the decoration fires;
• 20% of the curtain and drape fires;
• 15% of the cabinetry fires;
• 15% of the book fires;
• 10% of the linen other than bedding (towels, tablecloths, etc.) fires;
• 5% of the mattress and bedding fires;
• 5% of the floor covering fires;
• 4% of the upholstered furniture fires;
• 4% of the interior wall covering fires; and
• 3% of the box and bag fires.
How do they start?
This question sounds deceptively simple, but pieces of the answer can be found in several
different variables. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the home candle fires were
unintentional, 2% were intentional, and 1% resulted from the failure of the equipment or
heat source. That could refer to a holder or the candle itself. An act of nature was blamed
for 1% of the fires. See Table 5 for more details.
Obviously, more specific information about how the candle and the item first ignited came together is needed in order to prevent these fires. In the past, the NFIRS field for ignitionfactor captured that detail. In NFIRS 5.0, fire departments are now allowed to enter up to
two factors contributing to ignition. Some of the former ignition factor choices are now
captured in other fields, including cause and human factor contributing to ignition. (The
converted data would only have one ignition factor, and that may have converted to a
factor contributing to ignition, a human factor contributing to ignition or a broad cause.)
In 34% of the home candle fires in 1999-2001, unattended, abandoned or inadequately
controlled candles contributed to the ignition. Twenty-six percent (26%) started when
some form of combustible material either was left or came too close to the candle. Six
percent of the incidents were caused by people, often children, playing with candles. A
more detailed listing of factors contributing to ignition can be found in Table 6.
“Human factors contributing to ignition” is a new field in NFIRS 5.0. In 11% of the home
candle fires originally documented in 5.0, the occupants were asleep when the fire
occurred.
Flame damage was confined to the room of origin in four-fifths of these fires.
In one out of four fires (24%), the damage was confined to the object of origin. In slightly more than more than half (53%), damage extended beyond the original object but was confined to the room of origin. Flame damage extended beyond the room of origin in only 22% of the fires.
Who Are the Victims of Candle Fires?
Young school-age children had higher death risk from candle fires.
For most fire causes, the high-risk age groups are children under age five and older adults
age 65 or over. The profile for candle fires is different. Young school-age children have a
higher risk from these fires, and older adults age 65-84 were not high risk. Children five to nine faced a risk of death from a home candle fire that was 2.5 times that of the general population, and more than twice the risk of death from fires of all causes combined.
Children under five had the second highest risk. Those 85 or older faced the third higher
risk, but their risk of death from home candle fires was less than half of their risk of death
from home fires of all causes. Almost half (46%) of the people killed by home candle fires were under the age of 20; only 27% of the home fire fatalities of all causes were that
young. The distribution of ages among the injured is more consistent with that seen in fires of all causes. Statistics about deaths and injuries from all fire causes were obtained from John Hall’s Characteristics of Home Fire Victims Including Age and Sex
Half of the people killed by home candle fires were male, as were 48% of the injured.
When Do Candle Fires Occur?
December was the peak month.
Almost twice (14%) the average number of home candle fires occurred in December.
Christmas was the peak day, with an estimated 180, or 1.1%, of the 16,300 home candle
fires in 1999-2001. (If all days had an equal share of the fires, the daily share would be
1/365 = 0.3%. The actual Christmas share was four times the baseline rate.) Ten percent
of the home structure fires on Christmas were started by candles. New Year’s Day ranked
second with 150 home candle fires and Christmas Eve ranked third with 140 such
incidents. January had the second largest share of home candle fires. The smallest number was seen in July. August was second lowest and June was third lowest.
Sunday was the peak day and Saturday was a close second. The period from 6:00 to 8:59 p.m. was the peak period for home candle fires. The period from 9:00 to 11:59 p.m. ranked second and the interval from 3:00 to 5:59 p.m. ranked third. The smallest share of these fires occurred between 6:00 and 8:59 a.m.
December candle fires follow a somewhat different pattern.
Although bedrooms were the leading areas of origin for home candle fires all year, From January through November, 42% of the candle fires started in bedrooms. Only 31% of the December candle fires started there. In December, 24% of the home candle fires started in common rooms, living rooms, family rooms, or dens, compared to 16% during the rest of the year. The percentage of candle fires beginning in the dining room (7%) was almost three times the share during the rest of the year. During the rest of year, decorations ranked fourteenth. This is consistent with the industry pattern of seasonal business. It also suggests that seasonal candle fires often involve combustible seasonal decorations that would not have been present at other times of the year. In other words, the heightened candle fire risk around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays reflects a combination of increased candle use and a more combustible environment around those candles.
Candle Fires by Occupancy
Nine out of ten candle fires occurred in homes.
During 1999-2001, candle fires started an estimated annual average of 17,900 structure
fires in properties of all types. These fires caused an average of 150 civilian fire deaths,
1,630 civilian fire injuries, and an estimated $314 million in direct property damage.
Ninety-one percent (91%) of the reported structure fires started by candles occurred in
homes (one- and two-family dwellings, manufactured housing and apartments). Sixtynine
percent of the fires began in one- and two-family dwellings while 22% began in
apartments. Two percent occurred in mercantile or business properties.
Many candle-related injuries are not caused by fire.
According to estimates from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC’s)
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), candle-related injuries accounted for 15,300 emergency room visits in 2003, almost three times the 5,300 in 1991. See Figure 7 for trend data on these injuries. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of the victims in 2003 were male, and 61% were female. Forty-two percent (42%) of the candle injuries that year were lacerations, 25% were thermal burns, and 8% were scald burns. Some of the lacerations were caused by sharp or broken candleholders; some occurred while candles were being trimmed or wax was being removed from candleholders. Scald burns tended to be from the hot wax or candle product itself. One quarter of the emergency room patients seen for candle-related injuries were under 10 years old. Overall, there were 5.3 candle-related emergency room visits per 100,000 population in 2003. The rate for those under ten was almost twice that of the general population. The rate was lowest for those 50 or older.