Wii candle warning as Ammanford boy burnt Published duration 6 March 2012

Firefighters who believe an eight-year-old boy was burnt after using candles to make a games console work have issued a safety warning.

Cairan Davies, of Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, is recovering in a specialist burns unit after he sustained 8% burns to his chest.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service said it believed he was playing on the console when the incident occurred.

However Cairan's family have said it is not clear what happened.

A crew was called to Cairan's family home at 17:10 GMT on Monday.

A spokesman for the service said: "It appears that the boy was upstairs playing on a Wii games' console when the incident occurred.

"I understand that tea lights had been lit to make the console work."

The spokesman added: "This is a very dangerous practice and although they may seem harmless enough, tea lights can pose a serious threat as they can ignite curtains, paper and other combustible materials in the vicinity of the candles."

People have found that the Wii's sensor bar can be replaced by using a pair of tea lights positioned apart as they give off infra-red light.

The boy was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea by air ambulance where he is being treated in the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery.

His family said he had undergone a skin graft from his leg to his chest.

In a statement issued by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, Sarah Davies and James Setterfield, Cairan's mother and step-father, said: "The truth is that at the moment no-one knows what happened.

"There has not been an investigation, and Cairan is too upset to speak about the incident. Until he feels able to talk about it, we are unable to find out what happened."

Ms Davies and Mr Setterfield added: "We would like to stress that we do not allow any of our children to play with matches."

They said Cairan was "doing well" but that it would take a while for him to fully recover.