Mother Suffers Severe Burns After Tealight Candle Erupts in Fiery Accident
What began as a quiet evening at home turned into a harrowing emergency for Marnie Hobbs, a mother from Hampshire, when a budget tealight candle exploded without warning — splattering burning wax across her face and chest.
The incident, which left the 52-year-old with second-degree burns and lingering trauma, has sparked new concerns over everyday product safety and how retailers respond when things go catastrophically wrong.
A Quiet Night Turns Violent
On April 2, Hobbs lit a tealight from a £2.50 pack she had purchased weeks earlier at Home Bargains’ Eastleigh store. After nearly two hours of uneventful burning, the candle suddenly began crackling ominously. Sensing something was off, she carried it outside.
“I bent down to blow it out, and in an instant, the flame leapt up,” she said. “Boiling wax sprayed my face and chest. I barely remember the pain before I passed out.”
She was rushed to Winchester Hospital, where doctors treated her for second-degree burns, running cold water over her injuries for 20 minutes before applying dressings. She returned the next day to have painful blisters drained.
“I’ve experienced childbirth — twice — and this pain was worse,” she said. “It was absolutely unbearable.”
A Silent Response
Just two days after the incident, Hobbs contacted Home Bargains to report the terrifying experience and demand an investigation into the product. But six days later, she received a brief response: the company stated that no similar complaints had been made and insisted the tealights had an impeccable safety record.
In their message, they wrote:
“This product is one of our top-selling items, with tens of thousands sold each week over many years. This is the first complaint of its kind that our safety and compliance team has received.”
Hobbs described the reply as cold and dismissive.
“I wasn’t just asking for sympathy — I wanted them to take this seriously,” she said. “If this had happened indoors, or to a child, the consequences could have been much worse.”
A Call for Action
Weeks later, her face still bears the raw aftermath of the burns, and she says her trust in consumer products has been permanently shaken.
“You don’t expect something so small and common to cause so much damage,” she said. “This was a product sold cheaply, in bulk — but that shouldn’t mean it gets a free pass on safety.”
In response to media inquiries, a spokesperson for Home Bargains stated that customer safety is a priority and confirmed a full internal investigation had been conducted.
“We are confident the product meets all relevant safety standards,” they said. “Nonetheless, we recognize how distressing this must have been and wish the customer a full and speedy recovery.”
A Cautionary Tale
Hobbs’s ordeal raises urgent questions about how effectively everyday household products are tested and how companies respond when rare but serious accidents occur.
Her hope now is that her experience serves as a wake-up call.
“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else — especially not a child,” she said. “It’s not about blame. It’s about accountability and prevention.”
Bottom Line:
One moment, one spark — and a common candle became a source of real danger. As Marnie Hobbs continues to heal physically and emotionally, her story stands as a vivid reminder that even the simplest objects can carry hidden risks. And when disaster strikes, silence isn’t an acceptable response.