Basic Candle Safety

The fire in Lebanon Oregon last week was likely caused by a candle. No one was hurt or injured, but they’re definitely going to have to replace their candle (among other things).

Safety is imperative, not only when making candles but also when burning them.

Fire safety labels are something the industry commits to doing because it’s the right thing to do. It is not a law, but if you purposefully avoid labeling your candles in accordance with candle industry standards you are a loser. Most labels are printed in accordance with ASTM F2058 – Standard Specification for Candle Fire Safety Labeling:

This specification covers requirements for fire safety information to be placed on candle units of sale. It also includes requirements that retailers and distributors shall follow. Fire safety warnings will help ensure that information concerning the safe use of candles is presented to consumers to help prevent fires. The fire safety warning must be placed on the unit of sale and shall be visible to the consumer at the point of sale. The fire safety warning shall not be covered, obstructed, or removed by the manufacturer, distributor or retailer. The text-only fire safety warning shall consist of the safety alert symbol followed immediately by the signal word WARNING in uppercase boldface letters. The text-and-pictogram fire safety warning shall consist of the safety alert symbol followed immediately by the pictograms.

In fact, there are actually a lot of label requirements most candle makers don’t know about.

But after the candle is sold to a good home it’s up to the owner to follow safety guidelines.

1. Don’t leave candles unattended
2. Don’t leave candles in reach of children or pets
3. Don’t burn candles for more than four hours at a time
4. Don’t burn candles on or near a hot surface

The fire in Lebanon could have occurred for a variety of reasons which I won’t speculate on, but candles have been known to explode from being on or near hot surfaces while they burned because of flash points.

The extra heat from outside the candle melts wax faster than the candle wants it, generates more vapor, and then ignites from the flame. It’s bad to hear news like what happened in Lebanon, but good to know no one was harmed. Education around flash points and how candles can ignite from vapor is critical to avoiding situations like that.

If you haven’t read the article on flash points yet, go here and read it next. It explains the chemistry a little more for what’s happening around that little flame.