Matthew Wilson
A South Carolina couple has made a stir in their community thanks to their fiery Halloween display. People are constantly calling 911 on them.
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What’s Going On: Rather than slap a couple of skeletons in the yard, couple Amanda Peden and Sam Lee decorated their house for Halloween like it is on fire. Using smoke machines and orange lights in the windows, it gives the effect that the house is burning down.
The effect is so realistic that people keep calling the fire department. It’s got so bad that the couple is begging them, “Please do not call the fire department!”
Background: It’s not the first time the South Carolina couple made the news. In 2023, they put together a similar Halloween display to their home. That year also saw plenty of calls made to the police.
- “Most people appreciate it, but you’ve got the one percent who are never happy with anything,” Lee told TODAY.com.
- Meanwhile, Peden added,“There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like it.”
Halloween Decorations Controversy
Things got so bad that Peden took to Facebook to plead with people to stop calling 911.
- She wrote, “Our house will be on fire (not real fire) as Halloween decorations every night from 8-10 PM between now and October 31. Please do not call the fire department again!”
The couple has also reached out to the Fountain Inn Fire Department to avoid any unnecessary visits to the property. “If dispatch gets a call about the fire, they call me directly and check in,” says Lee. “We say, ‘No, we’re good.’”
Fountain Inn Fire Chief Russell Alexander opened up about the extreme Halloween decorations.
- “The first year, we were inundated with phone calls from people driving by the home,” says Alexander. “This year hasn’t been as bad … we’ve only had a few calls from people who are new to the area.”
- “It’s bad practice to not send a truck and, ethically, I can’t take that liability,” says Alexander. “If we get a call, we’re sending a truck, no matter what.”
In years past, they have recreated a realistic car crash, created a fake plane crash, and tied red balloons to the sewer drains in the town of Fountain Inn.
