How to Prevent Your Candles from Becoming a Fire Hazard

Many people love to burn candles because of the scent and warmth that they can add to any environment. While burning a candle is normally a pleasant experience, the fact remains that each year, hundreds of fires which result in property damage, personal injury, and even death are started by candle flames. While you shouldn't be afraid to burn candles in your home, there are some things you can do to help lessen the risk of fire. Here are four easy steps you can take to prevent your candles from becoming a fire hazard:

1. Keep the wick trimmed. Many people know that you can keep your candles looking and smelling great by keeping the wick trimmed, but wick trimming also reduces the risk of a candle fire. Ad a candle burns, soot and carbon build up at the top of the wick, creating a "mushroom" shape. If this mushroom-tip is not cut off before relighting the candle, it can begin to smoke and smolder, and if it gets big enough, it could create an out of control fire. Your best bet is to keep your wick trimmed to between 1/8 and ¼ inch at all times, and to trim the wick every time you relight the candle.

2. Keep the wax free of matches, wick trimmings, and other debris. Many people think their candle doubles as a trash can, and when they use a match to light a candle, they just drop it in the pool of melted wax instead of throwing it away. People also do the same thing with wick trimmings. Unfortunately, this is probably the biggest cause of candle fires today, and one that is easily prevented. When your candle has flammable materials floating around in the wax, it is easy for one of these pieces of debris to get hot and catch on fire. Therefore, you always want to keep your candle "clean." If you use a match to light the candle, throw it away in a garbage can, and if you trim the wick, be sure to fish out the "trimmings" so that they can be thrown away as well.

3. Burn your candle on a heat- and fire-resistant surface. When a candle gets down to the end of its burn time, it will often start to generate a large amount of heat from the bottom of the candle. Also, sometimes a candle will burn so low that the flame actually touches the surface it is being burned on. For these reasons, you want to make sure to burn your candles in appropriate sized holders that are heat- and fire-resistant. Most candles can simply be set on a glass or ceramic plate, which will provide you a "fire-proof" surface that will allow you to burn your candles safely.

4. Never leave a burning candle unattended! Although this is the most obvious fire safety tip, this is the one that people most frequently forget. If you are burning a candle, you don't have to sit and stare at it, but you should at least be in the same area of the house where the candle is burning. Accidents happen, and even if you think there is no way a candle can catch something on fire, it can and does happen all the time. If you are leaving your house or going to bed, do a quick walk-through of your home to make sure that all of your candles have been completely extinguished. A candle that isn't lit can't start a fire, so again this is your most important candle safety tip.

Candles can be a fragrant, great-looking addition to your home décor, but since there is fire involved, you need to be careful. If you follow the steps outlined in this article, you should never have any fire problems, and you'll be able to burn candles safely for many years to come!