Nicole Richie’s hair caught fire while she was blowing out her birthday candles

Milestone birthdays are memorable — usually for all the right reasons — but for media personality Nicole Richie she’ll possibly remember her 40th birthday bash as the time she accidentally set her hair on fire.

At birthday parties, we can usually expect cake, balloons, and joviality. What we certainly don’t expect is for the birthday girl’s hair to be set ablaze.

In a video uploaded to Instagram, the fashion mogul can be seen sitting outside excitedly blowing out her candles.

However, the ends of her hair catch two of the candles, causing a small fire.

She shared the gaffe with her 5.2 million followers with the caption: “well… so far 40 is” along with a fire emoji.

Her husband Joel Madden commented “that’s hot”, in reference to Paris Hilton’s famous catchphrase. Hilton and Richie starred in possibly the most quotable reality TV series ever made, The Simple Life, which aired between 2003 and 2007.

Other celebrities also took to the comments to discuss the fiery festivities, with singer Kelly Rowland remarking that her “heart dropped”.

Paris Hilton wrote: “OMFG Happy Birthday Bill! Hope your ok! love youuuuu” along with a shocked cat emoji.

Richie’s hairstylist Gregory Russell left a hilarious comment reading “STOP!!! AGAIN?!?!”, potentially implying that this has happened before!

Richie replied to the stylist saying: “I’ll start a Pinterest board for new haircuts. Start thinking of cute curly bobs.”

Her dad, singer-songwriter Lionel Richie, posted a sweet message to his own Instagram to mark his daughter’s birthday.

He shared pictures of them together throughout the years, with the caption: “You have been rainbows and butterflies your whole life … but you will always be my little girl, no matter how many birthdays we celebrate!!”

Her husband also shared a cute snap of them together, with the heartwarming caption: “You’ve made love feel timeless I’ve forgotten how old we are.”

The pair have been married for ten years and have two children, Sparrow and Harlow.

Although her birthday definitely could have gone better, it certainly serves as a cautionary tale for the rest of us long-haired folk!