Candle caused fire

[April2022x]

A few weeks ago I had a house fire which has made my family temporarily homeless.
The cause of the fire was a tea light from a local home store. The particular candle had 2 wicks, which at the time I thought nothing of but later realized that is what made the candle too big for the warmer it was in.
Anyway, I have made a complaint to the store via email. Received email back to send them photos of said candle pack and receipt. The fire burnt the majority of stuff in the room and I dont have any of these things.

Where do I go from here? Do I leave my complaint as I dont have proof of purchase due to the fire or is there something else I can do?

What do you expect this store to do?

Was the candle unattended?

Never leave a candle unattended, thems the rules.

Do you have insurance

I’ve had a single wick tea light catch fire. I now never use them. Too scary.

I'm not entirely sure how this is the fault of the candle.

let your insurance deal with it.
and yes, never ever ever leave candles unattended, even if in a safe burner/wind glass.

Well it’s not the store’s fault. It’s like crashing your car and blaming the dealership. You NEVER leave a candle unattended, basic knowledge.

The candle was not left unattended. I was in the room, it just went up so quickly I couldnt do anything.
I expect the store to do better quality checks on the candles they are selling and check the ones already in stores.

A candle is a live flame, I'm not sure what they could do? Do you have insurance?

What? They don’t have time and things like this will always slip through.

It is your responsibility to ensure your house doesn’t catch alight!

If you were just alerting them to the issue of the two wicks making the candle unsuitable for the warmer it was in, you've done that. The shop is not liable for what happened; you are expected to use candles responsibly.

Do you not have fire blankets/an extinguisher?

Yes the insurance company are already dealing with the damage. I would just like the company to check candles they have out for sale so it doesnt happen to someone else

Contact trading standards.

For your room to burn up, clearly the candle was placed too close to an object which then caught fire. That is not the store's fault.

What is a warmer? Was the candle sold with the warmer, or did you buy it separately?

This must be a tough time for you. Were the candle and warmer sold to go together? I'd pass this on to trading standards, plus any report from the fire brigade if there is one, and let the experts deal with it. You have enough to manage, and they will carry more clout.

I would suggest the fire brigade would be interested if you think the candle had a fault

something like a wax melter?

I'm really sorry about your house, it sounds very scary.

I don't really understand what happened though. Did you buy the tea light in a holder which exploded and set things on fire?

I had a candle from John Lewis once which shattered the glass when it got low and burned the rug. I throw them away when they're low now.

Battery operated candles are the way forward. I wouldnt use a real candle as they are far too dangerous.

That's the risk you take with candles.

If it was me I'd just be grateful nobody was killed.

How did the fire actually occur? Was the candle placed on a surface/close to flammable items?