Man accidentally burns down flat after botched marriage proposal

Groom-to-be sets up proposal scene with hundreds of tea lights and returns to find his flat on fire after fetching his girlfriend from work.

A man's fiery marriage proposal went up in smoke after he accidentally burned down his apartment on Monday night. The South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service responded to the call in Abbeydale Road, Sheffield and determined the blaze was caused by hundreds of burning tea light candles that were left unattended.

According to a social media post by the fire service, the unidentified man had a romantic marriage proposal laid out for the evening involving a set scene of lit tea light candles, balloons and a bottle of wine.

THREAD: Look closely. What do you see? That's right, hundreds of tea light candles! ðŸ•¯ï¸

Want to know what happened here? We thought you did. It involves a romantic proposal that didn't quite go to plan, and includes an important lesson around candle use.

Lets go! â¬‡ï¸ pic.twitter.com/p8aU6pQAUF
— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) August 4, 2020

"This was going to be the scene of a romantic proposal and the occupant, a chap who we shall not name, had really gone to town!"

The lovestruck groom-to-be then sped off to fetch his girlfriend from work. He left the candles still burning in his flat thinking it was a good idea to get the scene all prepped and ready for the big moment.

Upon the couple's return, they found the flat already engulfed in flames and the fire service well on their way.

Three fire engines responded to the incident on the first floor flat at around 8:30 pm. No one was reported injured in the fire and to top the evening's heated event, the fire service was happy to announce that his girlfriend said YES!

The fire service shared photos from the scene which showed the charred remains of the snuffed romantic proposal with floors lined with scorched tea lights, balloons and ruined walls.
The South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service reminded the public with a warning on the dangers of leaving lit candles unattended.

"As romantic as they are, and as much as we all love 'em, candles can be SO dangerous. Please, please extinguish them properly when you're done; don't put them near flammable items, like curtains; don't leave 100's of tea lights unattended."

In spite of the blazing proposal, the newly engaged couple was showered with well wishes and support from people on the fire service's tweet which came with a warning from one person begging the groom not to plan the wedding.