Candles are more popular than ever; as a result candle fires in the United States are on the rise. There are twice as many candle fires in December as any other month of the year. The open flame of a candle can easily ignite any nearby combustible. The number one cause of home fires are caused by unattended, abandoned, or inadequately controlled candles followed by leaving candles too close to combustibles. Almost half of these fires start in the bedroom. Children playing with candles started nine percent of candle fires.

Candles should be extinguished when leaving rooms or going to sleep. When lighting candles look at the area in which they are placed to make sure there are no flammable materials nearby such as clothing, books, magazines, papers, window blinds, curtains, decorations and Christmas trees. The area should also be out of the reach of children and pets. Use sturdy candle holders that won‚Äôt tip over easily, are made from materials that won’t burn and are large enough to collect dripping wax.

Keep candle wicks trimmed to one-quarter inch and extinguish taper and pillar candles when they get to within two inches of the holder or decorative material. Votives in containers should be extinguished before the last half-inch of wax starts to melt.