Boyfriend welcomes lover home with romantic candle message - and wrecks home in blaze

Fire: Amanj Issen's romantic gesture went wrong when he burned his bedroom down

A romantic boyfriend lit dozens of candles to welcome his girlfriend back - and wrecked their home in a fire.Amanj Yassen, 29, had not seen Jana Stankeviciute, 25, for a month while she was on holiday in Latvia.

Eager to show his love was still burning, he arranged dozens of tealights on his bedroom floor in the shape of a heart with an arrow through it and spelt out her name.

Jim Bennett

Romantic Gesture: Amanj Issen had laid out candles in his girlfriend Jana Stankeviciut's first name

 

But when he closed the door to hide the surprise the carpet caught fire and the flames tore through the entire room.

Amanj tried to tackled the blaze himself but was beaten back by flames and smoke and had to dial 999 for the fire brigade.

They used breathing apparatus to put out the blaze but not before 70 per cent of the room was destroyed including the carpet and bed.

Jim Bennett

Fire Disaster: Unfortunately the candles lit the room on fire and burned out part of the home in Chatham, Kent

And Jana returned to their rented home in Chatham, Kent just in time to see it on fire.

Builder Amanj, who is from Kurdistan, said: "I was just trying to do something lovely and it went very, very wrong.

"I spent ages making the room nice, doing the heart shape out of the candles, so it would be perfect for when she arrived. She called me to say she was about 30 minutes away and so I went up and lit them."

Jim Bennett

Homeless Couple: Amanj and Jana now need somewhere else to live as the home is uninhabitable

 

Amanj added: "Jana called me just before she reached the house asking me to come out to help her with her luggage, but I said I was already outside as something big had happened.

"I can't believe how much damage has been caused. I only have the clothes I've got on left. The bed has gone, the window was blown out and there is a lot of cleaning up and repairs to do."

The couple are urgently looking for new accommodation as property, which they had rented for 15 months, is now uninhabitable.

Jim Bennett

Still Together: Amanj says next time he'll stick to chocolates and flowers

 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service added: "The tealights caught the carpet alight, the bed and about 70 per cent of the room has been destroyed by the flames.

"Our advice is never to used tealights without putting them in holders. We also advise that people should never attempt to try and put fires out themselves.

"The message is get out of the property immediately and call us for help."

Amanj said next time he would show his love for Jana with chocolates and flowers.