How many Australians does it take to blow out a candle?

It might sound like a joke but it's actually anything but... Let me explain.

My friend Cathy accidentally burned her house down eight years ago after throwing water onto a burning chip pan, the resulting fireball caught onto the Range Hood and went up into the roof space.

After so many years she recently decided to try tea light candles in a Oil Burner to scent her house. All went well for a few weeks until she needed new candles and accidentally bought the wrong ones.

*She bought these










                                                    


   *For one of these Burners




*Instead of these

Somehow she managed to get the larger candle into the holder and got it lit...

 Sometime later she discovered the candle had started to melt because it didn't have the metal cup to prevent the wax flowing away in the hot burner, the wick was now much too long for the candle and it began to flare and smoke so she tried to blow it out...without success.

She threw her kitchen Fire Blanket over it and immediately checked to see if it was still alight...it was, so she removed the Fiberglass Fire Blanket in case it caught fire and then threw water over the burner.  As you can imagine that didn't go well either so with nothing left to try she called the local Fire station and told them she had a fire in her kitchen and couldn't put it out.

Within minutes a Fire truck arrived with six burly Firemen, three started running out hoses and connecting the pumps while the other three donned all the fireproof clothing, face masks  and axes then headed for the house with extinguishers.

By now they were joined by two police cars who moved quickly to block off the street and control the sightseers. The only vehicle they allowed through their cordon was the Ambulance and it's two officers who turned up to administer first aid to victims, firemen and anyone else injured by the inferno.

The three firemen burst into the house to find a slightly flaring candle burner sitting on the steel stove top... 

Picking it up with his thick, fireproof gloves a very brave fireman carried it outside as the other two flanked him with extinguishers at the ready.

Once outside they placed it on the concrete driveway and put it out with a merest puff of one fire extinguisher....

So..to answer the question  it seems to take six Firemen, four Police officers, two Ambulance officers and the occupant of the house to put out one slightly flaring candle....

I have no words for this.... (that I can print here)

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