Whitney Houston fan sets fire to home with candle vigil
Whitney Houston Whitney Houston’s death almost led to that of a fan in Oldham, who set fire to her house after holding a candle-lit vigil for the star.
Anne Lomax was so devastated by the singer’s passing that she spent hours listening to songs and saying prayers for Houston, before lighting a candle as she went to bed. Unfortunately the candle flame set fire to Lomax’s living room curtains with the television and electrics in the house soon following to go up.
The 53 year old was disturbed by smoke alarms as the blaze took hold, and the fire service were called to deal with the fire.
She escaped from the burning house without injury after rescuing her three dogs, and while firemen soon had the flames out, the living room was gutted.
Lomax said, "I had been sitting at the computer playing some music and saying a prayer for Whitney Houston. I was a big fan and I was just devastated when she died so I thought I'd light a candle.
"I was listening to her music and my thoughts were with Whitney. I had a little tealight on the window sill. I thought I had blown it out when I went up to bed but the next thing I knew the smoke alarms were going off. I dread to think what would have happened if I didn't have smoke alarms. I could have died. Everyone has candles these days but you don't realise how dangerous they are.
"People should be careful with candles. I really thought I'd blown it out, I can't believe the damage it has caused. It's devastating."
I thought less people had candles these days that, say, back before those new-fangled things called lightbulbs.
