I love the fragrance of certain scented candles and burn them pretty frequently. But last night, I got quite a scare!

I lit a VERY LARGE candle in our bathroom. I FORGOT about it! Around 12:30 a.m., I woke up – thank goodness – to a strange dripping sound. I picked my head up off the pillow just enough to listen better, thinking we must have a leak!

Then I sat up in bed and saw a bright glow coming from our bathroom. When I ran in, the entire top and side of the candle were burning and about to fall over. The candle had melted through the side, and wax was all over the place. That was the dripping sound I heard.

I was able to blow the dickens out of it and put it out. But how lucky that it was sitting on tile and that it didn’t ignite the wall or a wicker basket and magazines that were just inches away!

I just read that candles cause more than 15,000 residential fires each year! More than 150 people die each year in those fires. And it’s not just the flame that can start a fire. In some cases, it was just the HOT WAX that ignited something!

The fact is, most candle fires are the result of human error and negligence. I was definitely negligent. Thank goodness for my family that I woke up in time. I’m pretty certain the next time I light a candle – after this close call – I’ll blow it out as soon as I leave the room!