The pleasing glow from burning candles adds a feeling of great solemnity and celebration to religious services throughout the greater Chicago area. After all, who hasn’t shed a tear of joy as a just-married couple lit the unity candle as part of their wedding ceremony?
However, when lit candles are used in churches, temples, mosques, meeting houses, and other places of worship in the Chicago neighborhoods of Wicker Park and West Town, there’s a chance that extensive fire damage can occur. Unfortunately, fire from lit candles is among the top five causes of fire damage in places of worship in this country. Arson and faulty wiring are also top causes of fire damage in many places of worship, according to the U. S. Fire Administration.
If your church or other spiritual home is damaged from fire, you and your fellow congregants can look to ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons for compassionate and capable fire damage restoration. Our fire restoration system includes emergency pre-cleaning, content salvage and cleaning, packing out of the contents, and ceiling and wall cleaning and deodorization. The fire and smoke restoration professionals at ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons also have the highly skilled expertise to restore especially sacred items to places of worship. These include antique texts, ornate vestments, altar cloths, statuary, paintings, and more.
To avoid having to place an urgent call to ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons for smoke, fire, and water restoration, review these candle safety tips with your church leadership and facilities manager:
- Consider using battery-powered flameless candles.
- Store matches and lighters out of reach from children and preferably in a locked cabinet.
- Place all candles in sturdy holders and place them on stable surfaces.
- If a candle must burn around the clock, be sure it is enclosed in a glass container and placed in a sink, a metal tray, or in a deep bowl or basin filled with water.
- Lit candles should never be placed in windows where the blinds, drapes, or curtains could touch the flames.
- Handheld candles should not be passed from one worshipper to another at any time.
- When lighting candles during a candle lighting service—a common occurrence during wedding ceremonies—the person holding the unlit candle should dip his or her candle into the flame of the lit candle.
If you require fire damage, smoke damage, or water damage restoration in 18 of Chicago’s finest neighborhoods, call 773-376-1110 immediately.
