Tehama County firefighters earn state honors

Assistant Fire Chief Herb Love, left, Capt. Robert Waelty and Fire Chief Gary Durden, right, all of the CalFire Tehama-Glenn Unit are pictured at the Governors Employee Safety Awards on Friday, Aug. 24. Waelty accepted the award on behalf of himself and Firefighter Paul Purdy, who was unable to attend the ceremony as he has been fighting a fire in Idaho for more than a week.
Credit: Courtesy photo

Red Bluff Daily News - County firefighters earn state honors:

SACRAMENTO - Two Tehama County firefighters were honored Friday at the 27th annual Governor's Employee Safety Awards at California State University after they researched a brand-name tea candle and its potential to cause fires.

Fire Capt. Robert Waelty and Firefighter Paul Purdy of CalFire's Tehama-Glenn Unit received the prestigious California Employee Safety Condemnation Award as a result of their follow-up and research regarding a concerned citizen's phone call.

While on duty at the Bowman Fire Station, the men received a call from a woman who was concerned after she noticed smoke in her home and realized her entertainment center was burning.

Waelty and Purdy investigated the incident and conducted experiments on their own. Waelty said it was mostly curiosity that caused them to investigate.

"We were intrigued by the incident," Waelty said. "After we began investigating the small house fire, I took some evidence, including the candle, and we started doing experiments."

The men said they found that when the candle wax began to liquefy in the small plastic container it rested in, the plastic quickly ignited.

Inevitably, the plastic container in the experiment would fail to contain the fire, allowing the candle wax and small flame to spill onto whatever surface the candle was set on.

When the flame contacted the melted wax, the candle would ignite. The men said they quickly determined the hazardous effects the candles could have.

Waelty said their hypothesis of the small house fire was that the tea candle was the cause. The flame of the candle had been burning on an angle because of a fan in the room, Waelty said. He said the flame pushed the candle over, and when the flame contacted the liquefied wax, the whole candle ignited. "It was a good thing she was home when it happened," Waelty said. "Or it would have done a lot of damage."

The local retailer and candle manufacturer were immediately notified of the danger and the product was removed from store shelves nationwide, Waelty said.

Though Purdy was unavailable for comment as he was in Idaho fighting one of the state's many large wildfires, Chief Gary Durden said both men were honored.

Durden said the men were nominated by the Tehama-Glenn Unit and were more than deserving of the safety award.

At the time of the investigation, Waelty was a fire apparatus engineer. He has since been promoted to fire captain.