Holy smoke! Worshipper’s hands go on fire in church

SPONTANEOUSLY catching fire in a church may have biblical connotations for some people, but it could just be a sign that your hand sanitiser needs to dry a little more.

On Saturday, truck driver Tim Hendricken, 49, went into a church in Galway to light a candle for a friend in Mayo, who is dying.

After he entered the church, he sanitised his hands using the alcohol-based gel provided and then went to light the candle.

Mr Hendricken, originally from Dublin, first told this story on RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday. flame, so it was the alcohol.’ Mr Hendricken said the flame was like brandy burning off a plum pudding.

‘I am a truck driver, I deal with hazardous chemicals on an ongoing basis so I should have probably known better,’ he said.

He added that he may have put too much on and that had he left it another few minutes, the alcohol in the hand sanitiser would have just dried away.

‘I didn’t panic and I rubbed them together for a while and the flame eased and went out eventually. The hair on my arm is singed, there’s no skin damage,’ he said.

Mr Hendricken called in to Liveline to speak about what happened because he was concerned that something like this could happen to other people.

He said that he raised the issue with the church and they are taking action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The lorry driver added that he hopes catching on fire in a church is not a ‘warning of any sort’ of something to come. Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail after the show, he said: ‘I’d often call in to light candles for different people.

‘I picked up the candle from the bottom and it was going up to the top where the candles are already lit. There are special holders for these candles.

‘As I dropped the candle into its holder, my hands caught fire. I was wearing short sleeves and it was a slow burning