The Fire Service is urging people to be wary of a candle that has a dangerous sting in its tail.
National director fire safety Jim Dance said today the candle had attracted complaints from people who have had near misses with them.
The candles behave normally until the end of their lifewhen the wick can no longer stand. All the wax remaining in the container begins to burn at once and the flame flares up to an unusual height.
One woman placed two of the candles on her windowsill. The candles damaged blinds set about 250mm above them.
"When the candles were nearly finished all the wax in the metal container began to burn, and the flame grew to about 150 mm in height," Mr Dance said.
Firefighters received more complaints after this, including a man who wanted the Fire Service to be aware that the candles were "dangerous".
"People need to be aware that these candles can burn with an unusually high flame towards the end of their life, so keep them well away from anything that is flammable and on a surface that will not be damaged by the heat," he said.
"Although we are not able to identify the exact candles that are causing the problems, the ones complained about are around 50 mm wide by 20 mm deep and sit in a metal foil container.
"Many examples of this type of candle are available over Christmas, though not all of them burn like this," Mr Dance said.
