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Homeowners' fiery Halloween display keeps fooling neighbours

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 13 Oct 2025, 2:35pm
There have already been four emergency calls about the "fire house". Photo / Amanda Peden.
There have already been four emergency calls about the "fire house". Photo / Amanda Peden.

Homeowners' fiery Halloween display keeps fooling neighbours

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 13 Oct 2025, 2:35pm

Following a series of fearful 911 calls, a South Carolina couple are getting heat for their fiery Halloween display.

Amanda Peden and Sam Lee decorate their home dramatically every Halloween, setting up fake car crashes and body bags in their front garden, the U.S Sun reports.

This year, they have controversially created the illusion their Fountain Inn home is ablaze, complete with plumes of smoke and flames in the windows.

Peden shared a video of the display on Facebook, inviting local residents to come and view their “burning” home.

“Our house will be on fire (not real fire) as Halloween decorations every night from 8 - 10 PM between now and October 31,″ she wrote.

“Please do not call the fire department again!”.

Some reactions were less than impressed with what was described as a “real-life scary” scene.

One comment suggested the couple need to “put a sign on the yard stating it’s not real”, while another said the decorations “honestly should be illegal”.

But the engaged couple, who live at the property with Peden’s 15-year-old son, are unfazed by the comments.

Lee told TODAY.com the community enjoys the family’s seasonal spectacles, which get “crazier and crazier every year”.

“Most people appreciate it, but you’ve got the one percent who are never happy with anything.”

The former mayor of Fountain Inn said, “if dispatch gets a call about the fire, they call me directly and check in”.

Despite knowing about the decorations, Fountain Inn Fire Chief Russell Alexander told People he still sends a truck over to the residence when alerted to the faux danger - just in case.

“There’s always that slight chance of a lamp shorted out or the smoke machine overheated. Ethically, it’s, it’s what we do.”

He confirmed the department has received four calls about the house so far this year.

“The first year, we were inundated with phone calls from people driving by the home”, he said, “this year hasn’t been as bad...we’ve only had a few calls from people who are new to the area.”

Alexander said the light show doesn’t accurately mimic a real house fire but admitted “it’s got some real feel to it”, the Daily Mail reports.

The fire chief hopes to use the house to demonstrate the “stop, drop and roll” method in an upcoming video for National Fire Prevention Week.

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