One of my biggest nightmares is the thought of a fire breaking out in my house.

Therefore, I always unplug my phone charger before bed and make sure my smoke alarms have working batteries.

But this warning from Jason Whitaker in Kentucky? I’d never heard of it before.

In the fall of 2019, Jason Whitaker nearly watched his home go up in flames.

For a while, he had noticed a strange smell — something that he suspected might be an electrical fire. According to Fox10, He searched his house for the source, but it took time before he realized the potential disaster at hand.

Important warning

Eventually, he found the culprit — a spiral light bulb. Jason quickly realized how close he had come to disaster and felt that he needed to issue a warning on Facebook to alert his friends and family.

“These light bulbs will burn your house down,” he began his post.

So, what exactly caused the light bulb to start smoldering?

Jason shared photos of the bulb, revealing that it had become packed with ladybugs after being left in a lamp for four to five years. Apparently, the ladybugs had made themselves at home between the spirals of the bulb.

Insects are naturally drawn to warmth and light, and the inside of a spiral bulb offers both.

“You can see how close it came to igniting. I changed all the light bulbs. Please check yours.”

It seems Jason wasn’t the only one who had experienced something similar.

Check your bulbs

“This just happened to us. We moved into a new house and the bulbs were there. Replaced them now,” commented one user.

To date, Jason’s post has been shared over 430,000 times — so you can safely say it’s gone viral. However, many people are still unaware of the potential fire risk these bulbs pose.

Of course, the goal isn’t to cause unnecessary panic, and I don’t think Jason meant to either.

But this is definitely something worth checking. Take a quick look around your home and see if you have any of these types of bulbs. And while you’re at it, inspect the rest of your lights. It doesn’t take much time, but it could save lives!