Candle Danger - lead story in local paper

[dragontears]

You know that saying "Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

WELL MY REPLAY ON CANDLES THAT START FIRES IS:

CANDLES DON'T START FIRES!!! IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE BURNING CANDLES START FIRES!!!!

that is a very good one reese lol

[SatinDucky]

From all the responses here, I'm sure I'm about to drop to the very bottom of the popularity list. Ok, so I wasn't very high up to begin with, but let's shoot for a nose dive here....

I do agree that the exact wording may not have been the best, however, I don't believe they were claiming that candles jump up and start fires themselves. The fact of the matter is that candles are becoming more popular and something that just about everyone uses at some point or another. With winter and the holidays coming, the usage will greatly increase. Personally I believe the idea was to point how dangerous they can be. And that in NOT a bad thing. People do exactly as they're not supposed to do everyday. They don't read labels, they don't heed warnings, they don't use enough caution. The article could have said to use caution and point out how to use them safely(and I would like to have seen it). BUT, even if they did, people would skim right over that and not bother to pay any attention to it. The sensational way it was written may not please us, but maybe, just maybe, it got even one person to step back and realize just how dangerous they can be.

Nor were they claiming that candles are the only dangerous things in this world. Cooking, bathing, driving cars, etc are basic necessities of todays society. Candles aren't(provided your power hasn't gone out). They are more of a decoration/luxury/just pleasant to have around thing.

Ok, got my riot shield in place, commence rock throwing :tiptoe:

[Donita]

I don't throw rocks at ducks, merely skim them across the water....and not in any way aimed at the ducks. I know what you mean about there being more candle usage.....but.....when I was a little girl it was common everyday practice during the fall to rake our leaves into the street and burn them. This was in the city. All of the neighborhood kids did that. We were always using fire. I don't remember a single incident of any of us kids getting hurt or having a fire get out of control. We were taught how to do it properly. So even if we weren't living in the "Century of the Home Candle Collection"....we were lighting flammable stuff. The only accident I remember was when I was 5 and I dropped my hat that my Grandma knitted for me. An old man who couldn't see very well raked my hat into the fire and it was smoldering. I grabbed it and ran home crying. Guess that taught me some fire safety as a child. And.....people do constantly need reminding of dangers around us. When they first came out with "fire retardant" costumes, everyone was reading those labels, and the ones on sleep garments.....now people are so complacent that they have forgotten.....don't we as people forget painful things quickly? Like wars. Donita .. PS.....I still have the maroon sweater that matched that hat. She knitted it in 1948.

[Candle Kitty]

Ok, got my riot shield in place, commence rock throwing :tiptoe:

NO way, Ducky!! It's a good point!! We've all had good points on this thread. Just kills me though that a little girl had to suffer and WILL suffer the consequences.

[TartAddict]

The one that got me was the Phoenix boy who died after the candle he was playing with caught him on fire. HE WAS 2!!! What the he** was he doing with a candle!! Yes, candles can be dangerous....but it's just common sense that you don't put flames anywhere a child could come in contact with them (and children are sneaky!). Craziness.

[Pam W]

I see the article hit a sore spot with more than just me. After all the feedback they got from we Chandlers, I'll have to keep an eye out for a follow up article.

I think I'll start putting the warning labels on the side of the candle (or maybe on the top) instead of the bottom...not that it will do any good but it will be harder to ignore.

[Tallbabydoll]

Satin, I not only see and understand your point, but I agree with you, at least to a certain degree. Personally speaking, my argument with this article was the way it was written, not the point behind it. Especially the statement, "A candle did this." As I said in my comment I posted with the article, the candle didn't do it, the person who placed it on the table low enough for a child to reach over it did.

I personally am guilty of placing a burning candle in unsafe places. I frequantly burn one on my coffee table. I don't have any children, but I do have 2 dogs. One being a black lab, and there's been a time or to that his tail has come to close for comfort. Also there are times I leave the room with it burning there. Prime time for an accident to occur, especially when the dogs chase eachother around. One time I opened a box of fo samples (when I was hosting the fo sample swap) and wasn't paying attention. I opened one of the flaps right over a burning candle and the flap caught on fire. Another time I had a votive burning at my computer, the wind blew and blew papers right onto the votive.....That was scary, those papers went right up and was spreading to the stack where the papers originally were. Sorry so long, but my point here is that I KNOW BETTER, and I make careless mistakes. BUT....I....made the mistakes, the candle didn't.

Did anyone else notice that these people are from Chandler? What's the word for this? Ironic comes to mind, but I don't think that's it.

[SatinDucky]

Yup, ironic is the word...lol.

I do agree with that. The candle isn't to blame, ignorance and platitude (now I'm not sure of the word) is. I just figure the more shocking the story is written, maybe people will be more careful. Probably not though. I know all to well what can happen and I've been careless myself.