The Time Britney Spears Accidentally Set Fire To Her Own Home

Whether it's with her Shakira-inspired knife dances or wholesome, tiny cake-making reuploads, Britney Spears never fails to turn heads with her social media posts. In December of 2023, the pop icon caught the attention of fans by posting a throwback photo from when she accidentally set fire to her home gym.

"Reflecting back," Spears said in the caption, "remembering when I burnt the gym down in 2020." The accompanying picture showed the aftermath of the fire, revealing a charred wall mirror and weights covered in ash. The damage was likely done to her Thousand Oaks, California mansion, which she purchased back in 2015.

Photos of the fire might have shocked some fans, but longtime Instagram followers may remember that the pop icon mentioned the incident back in 2020. "I haven't been here in for like six months because I burned my gym down, unfortunately," the "Baby One More Time" artist said in a workout video from April 2020. "I had two candles and, yeah, one thing led to another and I burned it down."

While Britney Spears may have experienced property damage from her candle-based gym fire, the Mississippi-born singer confirmed that no one was hurt in the accident. She provided this context in her fitness tutorial from April 2020, which featured the part of her personal workout space that seemingly wasn't touched by the flames.

"But yes .... I burnt it down 🙈. I walked past the door to the gym and flames 🔥🔥🔥🔥 BOOM !!!!!!" Spears wrote in the video caption. "By the Grace of God the alarm 🚨 went off after that and yippy hoorah nobody got hurt 🙏🏼. Unfortunately now I have only two pieces of equipment left lol and a one-sided mirror gym."

Despite the loss of some of her equipment, the "Toxic" singer was obviously trying to look on the bright side of things, as she ended her post by adding, "But it could be much worse so I'm grateful. Pssss I like working out better outside anyways." We're relieved that Spears and her loved ones weren't harmed by the fiery accident at her Californian home, but it turns out this wasn't the first time the pop princess was faced with a candle-lit blaze.

Britney Spears actually has something of a history with candle-originating housefires, at least according to her mother Lynne Spears. Back in March of 2002, Lynne blogged about a similar experience that Britney had in a New York City apartment. Based on the blog post, which can be viewed on the popstar's old website via the Way Back Machine, Britney spent four days in New York City with friends simply referred to as Jenny, Bryan, and Lauren.

"One of those nights, they all came in to a real mess," Lynne recounted. "Brit left a candle burning. The wall caught fire and the fire department had to put it out." However, even the New York City fire wasn't the first time that Britney had gotten into candle-related trouble, as her mom went on to mention a similar accident that happened at their family's house. "Brit left a candle burning in her bathroom in our Louisiana home," she wrote. "Jamie Lynn jumped around it somehow and caught her bathroom on fire." Lynne added that Britney really learned her lesson with the NYC accident, but maybe the third time's the charm.