Mother blames £13 TikTok candle for fire that burned her house down and nearly killed her trapped 12-year-old son

• Former NHS worker Jerri Bosley was hemmed into her room by the blaze 
• Her 12-year-old son was dragged out of his room by his teenage sister Teegan
• Ms Bosley was covered in bruises and her young son was caked in soot

A mother and her 12-year-old son were inches from death after a £13 candle from TikTok burned their Victorian terrace down. 

Jerri Bosley, a former NHS worker, was hemmed into her bedroom in Taunton, Somerset, by the blaze before she was rescued by the fire service. 

Her daughter Teegan, 17 was left to rescue her 12-year-old brother from his bedroom window. 

Ms Bosley was covered in cuts and bruises and her boy was coated in soot when the two ambulances arrived. 

The family were put up in a hotel by the council after the flames ravaged their family abode on 3 August. 

They have been living their for two weeks and will remain in the apartments until local authorities can scout out emergency housing stock. 

Teegan bought the £13 candle online and left it to burn in her room while she played in the garden.

Ms Bosley (picured left) and her 12-year-old son (pictured right) were inches from death after a £13 candle from TikTok spread through their house and burned it down

The mother’s daughter Teegan, who bought the candle online, left it burning on her desk while she went outside

The scented candle set her table alight and then rapidly spread through the house. 

Ms Bosley’s cleaner spotted the blaze and alerted her mid-afternoon.  

Teegan shared photos of the incident online and called the whole experience  ‘absolutely terrifying’. 

Ms Bosley said:  ‘My son looked like Oliver Twist, he was covered in soot, he’s still very poorly from the fire and I think he might have a chest infection from all the inhaled smoke.

‘I know these particular types of candles are a current trend and very popular on TikTok, so this is why I am trying to raise awareness of the dangers of them.

‘Myself and my children were so very lucky to escape with our lives, but I fear the next person this happens to will not be so lucky. If you own these candles please throw them away!

‘I cannot understand why candles are able to be sold unregulated. Anybody is able to start a business and sell them, and I really feel it should be something that has to be checked for fire safety before being sold.’

She added said: ‘I was in my room when the cleaner shouted up the stairs about there being a fire, I instantly ran downstairs and discovered the fire in my daughter’s bedroom. It must have been burning for a minute or two, maximum.

‘I realised my daughter was outside but I knew my son, TJ, was in his room upstairs. I ran back upstairs to get him, but I couldn’t get to his room, which was directly above the fire.

‘I turned around and was met with a thick black cloud of smoke, it was terrifying, I was trying to shout for my son over the loud crackling and exploding of windows throughout the house.

‘I was on the phone to the fire brigade and the woman on the other line, Donna, was amazing she was calming me down and talking me through all these instructions which I was relaying to my son who just couldn’t hear me

‘The screaming from his room was harrowing.

The family have been living in their hotel for two weeks while the council look for temporary accommodation

‘Thankfully my daughter has climbed up onto the extension which is below his room window and helped him escape, if they had literally been a minute later the skylight on the extension would’ve exploded and there would’ve been no chance at getting him out.

‘I was trapped in my room and when the fire brigade eventually got to the house they helped me out of my window which took a long time to try and safely place the ladder for me to escape… it was just an absolutely harrowing experience and it has left all of us very traumatised, I couldn’t stop shaking until 12 o clock that night.’

Ms Bosley said: ‘We think the house is going to take at least a year to repair, we’re currently in a hotel which the council have put us in until they can find emergency housing for us.

‘I really don’t want to keep moving the children around, they’ve already been through enough with the fire.

‘We’re in a really horrible position, we are literally relying on people’s kindness and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for everyone who has helped us, it’s so overwhelming.

Ms Bosley’s neighbours set up a gofundme page to help her and the children raise money for food and clothes.  

The Fast Response Survey System went to more than 500,000 fires in the year ending June 2021, according to Government figures.

This was a 4 per cent drop compared to the previous year. 

According to the statistics, there were 249 fire-related deaths between June 2021-2022. 

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