I wrote about this on my blog awhile ago, it has not been beat.
Money on fire.
I like candles. If you’ve ever seen me professionally, you know this. In my bathroom I have (HAD) 2 recessed tealight holders, each holds 4 candles. You can wash your hands, use mouthwash, and leave your envelope in the basket without ever turning on the light. It was a normal morning, the client had just come out of the restroom and we were having a nice chat when I smelled something on fire. I had no idea what it could be but could not visually identify anything so I went into the only other room with candles – the bathroom – only to see a large blaze.
Apparently without noticing the client had set the envelope down directly on one of the candle holders (which was strangely, not even near the basket or empty counter space). I threw the envelope into the sink and turned on the water. Shockingly despite the blaze, most of the money was intact. $60 was not salvageable and I had a fun time putting the rest through the a money order machine while about 8 people stared at me probably wondering what the hell happened to that money.