According to the U.S. Fire Administration, improper candle use accounts for approximately 23,600 residential fires per year. The result: 1,525 injuries and 165 deaths every year, as well as $390 million in property damage. But there is a safe alternative to real candles, one that your department can use to help safeguard homes in your community and potentially raise funds.
The Home Safety Council (HSC) and the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) now sponsor a program that allows fire and emergency service organizations to purchase flameless candles at a discounted price, then sell them to the public to raise funds for fire safety awareness programs. Fire-safe flameless candles look like regular candles but don’t have an open flame. Instead, they operate for 350 hours on two C batteries and an LED bulb that creates the same glow and flicker as a regular candle. Flameless candles are made of real vanilla-scented wax-which does not melt-and come in nine different styles, various shapes and sizes and two colors, white or champagne.
Reducing Risks & Raising Money
Because there’s no actual fire, flameless candles are safe enough to use in places where traditional candles are prohibited, including dorm rooms, nursing homes and offices.
The CFSI has been promoting the flameless candles on college campuses and at assisted living facilities, as well as to fire departments interested in raising funds while promoting fire safety. “We’re seeing a lot of interest,” says Bill Webb, executive director of the CFSI. “We just got an order from a department in Delaware for 200 candles, and there’s a fire department in New Jersey that’s going door to door, offering candles for sale. With the winter months ahead and temperatures dropping, they should be an easy sell.”
Fire departments interested in selling the flameless candles as a fundraiser can contact the CFSI to purchase the candles by the case and get order forms and tally sheets. “We try to make it as easy as possible for fire departments,” Webb says.
Candle Cost
Cost varies by candle style; departments pay anywhere from $120.72 for a case of six 6″ hurricane-style candles to $153.96 for a case of twelve 4″ round candles. Retail prices range from $15 to $30 per candle, so profits for your department can range from $2 to $9 per candle sold. “Your profits really depend on how many orders you can get,” Webb says. “We suggest prices that fire departments can offer to buyers; we tried to make it a fundraising program for us and for the departments.”
Once you order a case or more of the candles, you should receive delivery within one to two weeks.
For more information, to download a PDF of the pricing sheet or to order a shipment of candles, visit the CFSI Web site at www.cfsi.org/candles, or call 202/371-1277.
