A woman in Texas who suffered severe facial burns after blowing out a scented candle is sharing her story to warn others.
Ashley Brawley told NBC DFW that when she attempted to blow out a vanilla-scented, three-wick candle from Bath & Body Works Sunday, the flames blew up in her face. Brawley suffered first- and second-degree burns to her face, according to her husband's Facebook post.
(The post has since been removed.)
Cody Brawley removed the burning candle from the house and sprayed it with a hose, which he said caused the candle jar to explode. Cody said his wife is recovering, but she wanted to share her story to warn others that the candles may be defective.
Some Facebook commenters took Ashley to task for attempting to blow out the candle, instead of covering it with a lid or using a candle snuffer. She said the flames were approximately six inches high, so placing a lid on it would have been difficult. Other people questioned if she let the candle burn too long, but she said the candle was burning for a little over three hours, and the candle instructions say to burn the candle no longer than four hours.
NBC DFW found several reports of similar incidents with three-wick candles on SaferProducts.gov, the government's safety product website, including one incident report that said the candle's flames soared nearly a foot high.
Bath & Body Works said in a statement that the company is looking into Ashley's complaint, but that all of its candle products go through extensive safety testing and meet all government standards.
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