How do I use candles and open fires safely in winter?

The pattern behind most candle and fire incidents is dull and consistent: something combustible too close, or nobody in the room. Candles burn down to whatever they are standing on and then set fire to it; tea lights get hot enough to melt a plastic surface and ignite it. Open fires and stoves add two hazards a candle does not have — a chimney that accumulates flammable deposits, and combustion products that include carbon monoxide.

Safety

What you'll need

• A carbon monoxide alarm, if there is any fuel-burning appliance
• Heat-proof candle holders
• A fireguard or spark guard
• A metal ash bucket with a lid
• A candle snuffer
• Dry, seasoned wood — under 20% moisture (optional)

Step by step

1. Fit and test a carbon monoxide alarm in every room with a fire, stove or boiler.High on a wall or on the ceiling, one to three metres horizontally from the appliance, not directly above it and not in a cupboard. Test it monthly and replace it at the end-of-life date printed on it.
2. Never leave a candle or fire unattended, and never overnight.Out of the room means out. This one rule prevents the majority of what goes wrong with both.
3. Stand candles on a heat-proof surface, clear of everything.Ceramic, glass or metal, not a wooden shelf or a plastic tray. At least a hand's span from curtains, cards, greenery, books and anything else that will burn, and never underneath a shelf.
4. Put candles where they cannot be knocked over.Not at the edge of a table, not where a cat walks, not on a windowsill with curtains, not on a bookcase at head height. Draughts and pets account for a large share of candle fires.
5. Snuff rather than blow them out.Blowing scatters hot wax and can carry a burning wick fragment. A snuffer or the lid of the jar is safer and stops the smoke smell as well.
6. Have the chimney swept once a year, before the season.Annually for wood and smokeless fuel, more often for bituminous coal. Use a sweep registered with a recognised body and keep the certificate — most insurers require it and will ask after a chimney fire.
7. Burn only dry, seasoned wood or approved smokeless fuel.Wet wood produces far more tar, which is what lines a flue and eventually catches fire. Wood should be under 20% moisture, and in a smoke control area only approved fuels and exempt appliances may be used.
8. Use a guard, and a spark guard whenever the room is left even briefly.A fixed guard is essential where there are children, older people or pets. A spark guard in front of a dying fire is what stops an ember on the carpet at midnight.
9. Put ash in a metal bin with a lid, outside.Ash stays hot enough to start a fire for days. It goes in a metal bucket, outside, well away from the building — never a plastic bin, a cardboard box or a wheelie bin.
10. Keep the room ventilated while the fire is alight.A fire needs air. Blocking the air vent that serves it, or sealing the room too well, is a direct cause of incomplete combustion and carbon monoxide.

Tips

• Battery LED candles are indistinguishable from real ones at three feet and are the right answer in a bedroom, in a child's room, or anywhere a real one would be left burning.
• Tea lights get hot enough to melt and ignite plastic. They belong in a proper holder, not straight onto a bath surround, a TV stand or a plastic tray.
• Trim wicks to about 5mm before lighting. A long wick makes a large sooty flame that blackens walls and throws sparks.
• Never use a stove or open fire to dry clothes on an airer in front of it — this is a recurring cause of winter fires, especially where a fire is being used to save on heating costs.
• If you are using candles because of a power cut, use torches instead wherever possible. Power cut candle fires are a well-documented pattern.

Common mistakes

• Leaving a candle lit in a bedroom or while falling asleep — Bedroom candle fires are disproportionately fatal because the fire starts near soft furnishings and the occupant is asleep. Use a battery candle in a bedroom, always.
• Skipping the annual sweep because the fire seems to draw fine — Deposits build regardless of how well it draws, and a chimney fire is the result. Insurers also routinely decline chimney fire claims where there is no sweep certificate.
• Emptying ash into a plastic or wheelie bin — Ash retains enough heat to ignite for several days. Bin fires and shed fires from ash are common and entirely preventable with a metal bucket and a lid.
• Assuming a CO alarm is only for gas — Wood, coal, oil and gas all produce carbon monoxide when combustion is incomplete or a flue is blocked. Solid fuel appliances are among the most common sources.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask