My mother rented her summer place in the Hamptons to a woman who brought her son and grandchildren. The son, a 40-something attorney, decided to light a fire in the fireplace (in 80 degree weather in August...) and neglected to open the flue. There was smoke damage to the paint which will cost close to $10K to repair. After they noticed the smoke, they didn't open the flue and instead ran the A/C, thinking it would disperse the smoke. Idiotws.
The woman took out a renter's policy, as required by the lease, but the policy did not cover smoke damage. My parents will not refund the security deposit (which is enough to cover perhaps 25% of the repair costs) and they will have to go to court to collect the rest. Small claims court in NY State evidently allows claims of up to $5K, and that amount plus the deposit would come close to repair costs, so they will that route.
My mother doesn't want to place a claim with her own insurance policy as it will trigger a rise in her premiums (for stupidity she did not cause). Her list of instructions for the renters included "how to open the flue in the fireplace" but the bozos didn't read the instructions.
Not that I would EVER leave a candle burning when I wasn't present, but not opening the flue is even more egregious, in that there will be trouble ANY time you start a fire with the flue closed, and the tenants were present in the house when the trouble started and didn't know how to manage the situation. Leaving candles unattended, while dangerous, is not guaranteed to burn down the house, though unfortunately that was the case for your parents. I feel very bad about it. Does their insurance cover it? Or were the renters required to take out an insurance policy?
