– It was a terrible start to the weekend, says Maria Velde Vigan (30).
When Dagbladet spoke to Maria, she was suffering from burns on large parts of her face and had returned to work.
A warm candle on the face
Recently, Maria was dressed in her festive attire and headed out the door to attend a Christmas party at Nordre Follo. Suddenly she heard a loud bang from the room and saw a container of tea light explode.
The flame of the candle began to spread beyond the window. Without thinking, Maria tried to put out the fire before they ignited the entire house.
– In pure desperation, I tried to blow out the candle and sprayed the candle directly on my face, says Maria.
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The secondary burns
Her first thought was “I’m sorry, I can’t make it to the Christmas party”. Due to the adrenaline, it took the 30-year-old a while to realize he had suffered second-degree burns around his mouth and around his right eye.
– At first I had a little adrenaline, then it started pouring really bad. It hurt a lot, I was a little scared,” says Maria.
Fortunately, Maria is a doctor and knows what to do. Her roommate took her to the emergency room while she cooled her wounds. She received a Vaseline bandage and lots of prescriptions for various ointments for the time to come.
– It was very painful, but I am on the road to recovery. Maria says it’s boring when it’s a face, now the face is very stiff and numb.
Injury: Maria had to wear a bandage for a while after the injury to reduce the risk of infection and inflammation. Photo: Private.
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– In the future, there will be LED lights
He says that the doctor is treating himself and is already seeing a lot of improvement. Since this is a second degree burn, she also hopes to survive the scar.
– I think it will be red for a while, but I don’t think you’ll see it eventually, mainly because I’m fine with using a high sun protection factor for at least a year, but for the rest mostly about my life. Maria says there is some luck in misfortune.
After the incident, he went to buy both new lamps, fire blankets and fire extinguishers.
– In the future, there will be LED lights, says Maria.
Warning: – Don’t take chances
20 degrees for 20 minutes
Monika Hansen is president of the Norwegian Association for Fire Victims and says she has heard of many accidents involving tea lights.
– As an association, we have many cases where they have suffered severe burns due to tealight. Even if it’s a small light it can become very serious.
Hansen has clear advice if you’re unlucky and burned out at home:
– I can’t say it enough. Keep the injured area under water at 20 degrees for 20 minutes or as long as you can. It provides pain relief and cools the injured area to reduce damage.
If the wounds are on the face, as in Maria’s case, it can be difficult to stay under the sink for 20 minutes.
– Then you wrap the ice in cloth, for example, hold it against the wounds, says Hansen.
Coffee Pot: When Monica was three years old, she was hit by a coffee pot and badly burned. She didn’t cool down after the accident. Photo: Private.
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She doesn’t know why tea lights explode, but she knows it happens and says she’s experienced it herself.
He believes it is important to think about candles more, especially now at Christmas time
– Hansen says we see more fires around Christmas time, no doubt about it.
Procedures are important
Fire expert at Frende forsikring, Øystein Øren, has some tips to share for fire safety, especially now at Christmas time:
– It is incredibly important to keep candles well away from flammable materials. It can be decorations, curtains, textiles, paper and so on.
Candles in Christmas decorations that are dry and burn easily are the most flammable, experts say.
– Children or pets can come across and knock over the candles. Oren concludes that it’s important to have good routines for turning off when you leave the room and go to bed in the evening.
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