In a freak accident, a former New York City official sustained second degree burns on her face after a Bath and Body Works candle exploded shortly after being lit.

Renita Francois in her lawsuit against the bathing essentials brand said that the candle exploded, sending “searing” hot wax into her face and arms on January 19, 2023.

How it all unfolded

According to a New York Post report, Francois’ life “irrevocably changed” since the incident, when a three-wick “Sweater Weather” candle exploded as she leaned in to take a whiff, sending a “shockwave of fire and debris directly into her face”, her lawsuit claimed.

In her lawsuit, the 41-year-old woman said that the heat of the blast left her skin “sizzling”, singed off her eyebrows, melted her eyelashes, and left her face and arms seriously scarred. She called the pain “instant, unrelenting, and beyond anything she had ever experienced”.

In her lawsuit filed against the company, the woman’s husband said he “witnessed his wife’s face catch fire, crackle, and blister as molten wax burned her skin”.

The mother of two was rushed to the emergency room but said the aftermath of the incident has “fractured” her confidence.

The second-degree burns ignited “an emotional and psychological battle, an assault on her self-perception, and a daily reminder of a tragedy that could have been prevented,” she said in a Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit against the retailer and the manufacturer, Premier Candle Corp.

Allegations against Bath and Body Works

According to the Post report, the candle, made in Canada, which sells for about $17 ( ₹1,500 approx) was manufactured with “substandard materials, improper safety measures, and inadequate testing”.

The woman in her lawsuit said that this created an “unreasonable risk of explosion” and the candle was especially dangerous because chemical additives made the wax “highly flammable”.

The woman further said that the company knew its candles could be dangerous as far back as 2016, when it was forced to recall some of its votives for “documented cases of candle explosions, glass shattering, and injuries caused by molten wax and fire hazards”.

Francois was the executive director for the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighbourhood Safety under Mayor Bill de Blasio from July 2018 to April 2002, the Post said in its report. She was a frequent public speaker but now “dreads stepping in front of a room”.

“Before the explosion, Renita was bold, fearless, and effortless in commanding an audience. Today, she walks into public meetings, panel discussions, and leadership summits knowing that her scars speak before she does,” she said in court papers. The woman is seeking unspecified damages.

Bath & Body Works and Premier did not immediately return a message seeking comment, the Post said.