[dayglored]

> someone grabbed a flaming stick from the temple and used it to set fire to something else

Turns out that's not a quite accurate description. GoogleAI, quoting from the New York Times, says:

Because the monks manage the sacred embers separately and reacted quickly, the Eternal Flame itself was rescued entirely unharmed and temporarily relocated.

This also implies that the fuel I mentioned in my comment above is some sort of wood, which of course makes sense in that context.

Aside: I find the concept of an "unharmed flame" rather charming.

[SunkenCiv]

😁🔥

(🕺 also shows up in the emoji search for “flame”, figures)

[Dr. Franklin]

Because the monks manage the sacred embers separately and reacted quickly, the Eternal Flame itself was rescued entirely unharmed and temporarily relocated.

As they worked at this task, the monks all sang the lyrics to the Bangles song, and asked rhetorically, "Is this burning, an eternal flame?"
The Bangles - Eternal Flame (Official Video)