Smells like Burning

Monday night I came home from work and the hall of my apartment building smelled like smoke. Not cigarette smoke or smoke from recreational herbs. Smoke like something caught on fire.
When I walked into my apartment the smell of burning was even stronger.
Me: It smells like burning in here.
Roommate: Oh, yeah, I had a fire today.
Me: What?
Roommate: I was cooking some hashbrowns and I turned my back on the oil for, like, 5 seconds, and when I turned back it was on fire. So I used some of your backing soda to put it out.
Me: Uh-ok. What's with all the candles?
Roommate: Oh, I was trying to get rid of the smell, but then I realized that most of these are unscented, so that didn't help.
Me: Um.
*I brought out some inscense and lit it*
Roommate: I forgot about that, I would have used that if I had remembered you had it.
Me: It was in my room.
Roommate: Oh.