By Molly Roberts
The Kalona Volunteer Fire Department was called to a structure fire at 4:01 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11. The fire was caused by an unattended candle in the bathroom of a mobile home and, while the fire was brought under control in 20 minutes and was contained to the area of origin, the trailer was deemed a total loss.
Kalona Fire Chief Jerry Zahradnek said candles are the number one cause of structure fires across the country. He stressed that candles should never be left unattended and, when burned, should be considered with caution.
“You just have to be safe with them. You can’t leave them unattended, you have to make sure they’re blown out before you go to bed, before you walk away,” Zahradnek said. “When they get burned down far, those need to be taken out of service or disposed of. You don’t want to burn them until there’s absolutely nothing left in the jar. Sometimes that heat and that wax, when it gets to the bottom can ignite, when you don’t ha