A Maury County couple is suggesting others turn off their Christmas lights while asleep after they almost lost their home to a fire.
Mary Morrison said she and her partner had a single string of lights up outside their Columbia home.
Around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, the family woke up to a smoke alarming and their home guest alerting them of a fire.
"It continued over here and it caught some of the shrubs on fire and continued up and ultimately caught the house on fire," Morrison said.
The couple quickly got out of bed.
Danielle Huckaby who works as a volunteer firefighter grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames before crews arrived.
"When we started throwing water on it, it started sparking and then I knew it was the electrical cord," Huckaby said.
Home security footage showed the fire burned for an hour before the smoke alarm sounded. Now the couple wants to remind others to not leave holiday decorations on overnight.
"We kept them on pretty much on all the time really and we just didn't think that anything would happen because it's just one strand. You hear all these fire safety tips saying don't overload an outlet," Morrison said.
The couple plan to repair the siding but wants others to be careful this holiday season.
"Unplug your lights at night and remember to change your batteries in your smoke detector once a year and make sure your fire extinguishers are in date," Huckaby said.
They plan to move pass this accident but said they may not hang Christmas lights up on their home again this year.
