Pembroke Pines

South Florida Woman Shares Warning After Candle Catches Fire Inside Home

Bath & Body Works responds to claim a candle exploded inside a Pembroke Pines home

NBC Universal, Inc.

A busted Bath & Body Works candle sits on Desiree Sepulveda’s bathroom vanity in Pembroke Pines. The mother of two is still stunned after she says it caught fire over the weekend, about two hours after she lit it.

“There was plenty of wax still in it, normal when we light the candles and they run out of wax they’ll just turn off,” Sepulveda said.

But this time she says it caused a fire, intense enough to melt part of the mirror frame, sending glass flying. From the next room, Sepulveda's husband smelled smoke, ran in the bathroom to find the mess, and blew out the single flame that remained.

The family feels incredibly lucky.

“Just grateful that nothing happened," Sepulveda said. "They weren’t taking a bath or anything like that, and first I just shared it with my closest friends that this happened,” said Sepulveda.

Then Sepulveda posted it on social media to let more people know. A few people commented they’ve also had candles do the same thing. Desiree tagged Bath & Body Works so they could investigate.

“I tagged them just so that they would be aware of the problem and hopefully take some steps to correct it,” Sepulveda said.

NBC 6 reached out to Bath & Body Works, and they responded with this statement:

“Every candle we sell is one we would confidently use in our own homes. Because safety is our top priority, our candles undergo extensive quality and safety testing that not only meets but also exceeds all applicable industry and government guidelines. Many factors beyond the construction of the candle itself can affect its performance, which is why we provide safe candle burning tips on our website and proper use guidelines on our products.”

Sepulveda and her family say they won’t be lighting candles anytime soon, she just hopes others heed her warning not to leave candles unattended.

“I wanted to reiterate to be very careful because it could’ve gone very badly very quickly,” Sepulveda said.

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