Horrifying moment Utah mother’s hair catches FIRE in front of screaming guests as she blows out candles on her birthday cake
- Ana Oosterhouse was hosting a joint party with her son, seven, in Ogden, Utah
- Her hair went up in a column of fire when she leaned down to blow candles out
- Her husband Dylan extinguished the flames and she survived with minor burns
This is the heart-stopping moment a mother-of-six’s hair goes up in flames while blowing out the candles on her own birthday cake.
Ana Oosterhouse was hosting a joint party with her seven-year-old son Hunter in Ogden, Utah, when she caught fire.
The aspiring lawyer leaned down to blow out the candles in front of her family when a strand of hair caught alight, with the fire quickly spreading up the right side of her head.
Ana Oosterhouse’s hair goes up in flames while blowing out the candles on her own birthday cake
The cake was decorated with dozens of candles and caused the right side of Ana’s head to catch fire
Onlookers screamed as they rushed to pat out the flames and Ana suffered no permanent damage but her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were burned off and she had burns on her face.
She said: ‘I saw my whole life flash in front of my eyes. It was a very surreal experience and happened so quickly.
‘I thought I was going to catch on fire, burn my whole hair off and have severe burns.
‘My initial reaction was obviously I wanted to put it out but I was most worried about making sure that nobody else caught on fire, which is why I didn’t let go of the cake.
‘It felt like an out-of-body experience and I didn’t really realise what was going on in that moment. I’m so thankful my family was there to get it out before it burnt more.’
Ana suffered no permanent damage but her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were burned off and she had burns on her face (pictured)
Ana (pictured on her birthday before the fire) was hosting a joint party with her seven-year-old son Hunter in Ogden, Utah, when she caught fire
The aspiring lawyer leaned down to blow out the candles in front of her family when a strand of hair caught alight
Ana said she will never put more than two candles on a cake again after the horrifying incident.
She said: ‘There were 15 kids sitting right in front of me, if I’d dropped the cake it could have lit my house on fire or one of my nieces, nephews or my kids.
‘It could have been really bad. I could have ended up in hospital, my house could have burned down, my family could have burned with it and it’s things you don’t think could happen when you light a birthday cake.’
Ana said she normally doesn’t use so many candles but could not find the usual numbered decorations she normally uses.
She said: ‘I kind of had a bad feeling about it from the very beginning. My daughter put the candles on the cake prior to the party starting and even then I was just like, “I don’t feel right about these candles but whatever”.
Ana (pictured with singed hair) said she will never put more than two candles on a cake again after the horrifying incident
Ana was celebrating with her seven-year-old son Hunter during the family party in Ogden
Ana’s burnt hair lies on the floor after it was singed during the accident on her 34th birthday
‘They were singing happy birthday and my little niece was right next to me and I felt her blowing on my candles so I leaned over a little to have her help me and that’s when my hair came forward and caught on fire.
‘I froze up, which I’m thankful for, and felt really overwhelmed in that moment. I just heard “oh my gosh” and everybody started screaming.
‘My husband, sister and brother ran up to me and started smacking my hair and face with their hands to put the fire out. Luckily, because we didn’t have any water nearby.
‘It did damage a bit of my right eye because my vision is pretty blurry. It’s painful, when I look around it still feels like it’s burning.’
Ana, who didn’t have any product in her hair at the time, said she also suffered burns to her cheek, ear and chin.
Her eyebrows were also ‘seared’ and right eyelash extensions burnt off too.
Ana’s husband Dylan, 35, rushed to help extinguish the flames by patting her head after she caught fire
Ana said: ‘Everybody was freaking out and scared because they thought I was completely burned and once they saw that I was ok they started making jokes about it.
‘My family are a bunch of jokers and when I came out of the bathroom they had the Alicia Keys Girl on Fire song playing.
‘I was relieved that it was ok and so after that I was just kind of laughing.
‘My family now still joke and say “next year you and Hunter need to have a fire and ice party” and keep saying I’m going to get a fire extinguisher for Christmas.
‘I probably won’t have candles on my cake for at least a few years.
‘Everyone in our family is super-mindful about candles now just because you don’t think of these things that could potentially happen.’
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