South Yorkshire Fire Service has taken to social media to share the unfortunate tale of a Northern lad who accidentally set his flat on fire whilst proposing to his partner.
The man from Sheffield, who has not been named by the fire service, was described by fire crew as having “really gone to town” by lighting over 100 tealight candles inside the property as a romantic gesture to set the scene for the proposal.
He was also said to have filled the flat with balloons and had bought “a nice bottle of wine” too.
Whilst it all initially sounds like the perfect proposal set-up, things quite quickly went awry when the man nipped “around the corner” to go and pick his girlfriend up and returned to the flat to find it ablaze as a result of the unattended tealights.
THREAD: Look closely. What do you see? That's right, hundreds of tea light candles! ?️
Want to know what happened here? We thought you did. It involves a romantic proposal that didn't quite go to plan, and includes an important lesson around candle use.
Sharing the full story in a thread on Twitter, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Look closely. What do you see? That’s right, hundreds of tea light candles. Want to know what happened here? We thought you did. It involves a romantic proposal that didn’t quite go to plan, and includes an important lesson around candle use.”
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“Last night, three crews were mobilised to a flat fire in Sheffield.
“They dealt with it quickly, as ever, before trying to establish what caused it, so a quick chat with the occupant revealed that this room had been filled with 100s of tea lights. It had also been filled with balloons and, as you’d expect, a nice bottle of wine…”
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“This was going to be the scene of a romantic proposal and the occupant, a chap who we shall not name, had really gone to town.”
It had also been filled with balloons (yep, that's what you can see in this photo) and, as you'd expect, a nice bottle of wine… ?
This was going to be the scene of a romantic proposal and the occupant, a chap who we shall not name, had really gone to town! ??
Whilst this rather bizarre story does fortunately have a happy ending after all and we couldn’t be more glad for the couple, if it wasn’t for the quick actions of the firefighters, then this could have seen a different and very tragic end.
This has prompted South Yorkshire Fire to close out the tweet thread by offering a few bits of advice around candle safety.
They said: “As romantic as they are, and as much as we all love ’em, candles can be so dangerous.”
“Please, please:
Extinguish them properly when you’ve done.
Don’t put them near flammable items eg: curtains.
Don’t leave 100s of tea lights unattended.”
Trending
Manchester firefighter surprises partner with proposal during new recruits parade
Danny Jones
We’re a sucker for a wholesome little video as we know you are, which is exactly why we thought of you lot when we came across this video of a newly graduated Manchester firefighter surprising his partner with a heartwarming proposal.
Just the kind of heartwarming that usually sets us off after a long week at work.
The clip shared by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) on Thursday, 25 April, shows Manc fireman James popping the question to his girlfriend sat unassumingly in the audience at a recent passing out ceremony.
Pass out ceremonies are when trainees go from recruits to fully qualified firefighters after completing their intensive operational training. It’s a long-standing tradition in the emergency services where friends and family gather to celebrate their achievements – it’s almost like it’s the perfect opportunity…
Watch as a Manc firefighter turns his passing out ceremony into a surprise proposal.
As you can see, since the graduates are usually the centre of attention, James couldn’t help but size his moment and instead of walking and lining up normally like everyone else, he decided to head straight over to his wife-to-be and get down on one knee.
You already know the rest.
Welling up immediately and barely able to remove her hands from her face, Melissa nods and says yes as the crowd cheers and the pair share a smooch.
Writing on social media, the GMFRS said: “We managed to capture a VERY special moment at our new recruits pass out parade today… Congratulations to James and Melissa!”, adding, “Certainly one way to start your new career”.
If we don’t see all the groomsmen dressed as firefighters on a random viral video sometime soon we’re going to be gutted.
All the best to the happy couple and if you’ve got any more lovely clips like this to send in so we can make ourselves cry (in a good way), you know what to do.
Featured Images — Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Trending
The Chestergate pub in Stockport is at it again with some of the most wonderfully Manc scenes you’ll ever see
Danny Jones
The legendary Chestergate pub in Stockport is back with another belter of a video, following on from their viral belly-flashing clip of 2022.
The Mersey Square boozer has painted yet another quintessentially Northern depiction of UK pub culture with the latest Manc scenes they’ve captured around the karaoke machine.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of stumbling into The Chestergate in Stockport town centre, the long-standing boozer currently operated by publican chain Blind Tiger Inns, you’re seriously missing out.
While it might not be the flashiest of pubs, when it comes to entertainment, it always delivers.
Whether it’s stunts like renaming themselves ‘The Southgate’ whenever the Euros or World Cup rolls around, or the locals just genuinely having a whale of a time no matter what day of the week it is, it really sums up the best of pub culture.
The Chestergate went viral for some of the most British footage ever caught on film back in 2022 and the videos saw a huge wave of love and support flooding in for the pub, as well as a healthy amount of chuckles. Safe to say we were chuffed to see them pop back up on our feed again recently.
Karaoke night at The Chestergate literally never disappoints.
Forget ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ or ‘Champagne Supernova’ for karaoke songs – we’ll take a cacophony of inaudible throwback pop music, whilst another bloke and his hype man try and MC over a totally ill-fitting beat any day of the week.
And that’s handy because you’ll find those kinds of shenanigans happening at this place all the time.
It’s simultaneously one of the most no-nonsense and somehow a non-stop shenanigan-filled paradise. They also look after their own and consider their regulars part of the family. Case and point: they threw their very own ‘Dancing Queen’ Molly a big bash for her 86th birthday and it’s such wholesome viewing.
At this point, it’s worth flagging that we have nothing but envy for these folks and anyone who’s just out there having the time of their lives on any random weeknight.
Yes, it produced plenty of laughs for those watching online in recent times but this lot won’t mind one bit – not only is the pub seeing more and more new faces through the door but that’s the whole point of a pub, isn’t it? Going for a pint with your nearest and dearest and having a laugh.
Not only is it very Manchester but it’s Britain at its very best.
We hope to see you at The Chestergate pub in Stockport for a pint or two sometime soon and we’re making a bit of a prat of ourselves, don’t worry, we’re sure they’ll have the cameras ready for you.
Emily Sergeant -
5th August 2020 
