A woman in California died on Christmas morning in a house fire caused by artificial Christmas tree, according to a report in New York Post. The incident took place when Destiny Abdrazack, 22, was celebrating Christmas with her fiance's family in North Highlands, in California. An electric spark from the tree started a fire around 2am on Wednesday, the Post further said citing a report from NBC affiliate KCRA3, a local news outlet. The house did not have smoke alarms.
Ms Abdrazack started shouting after seeing the flames, which awakened others in the house, her fiance's father Ernest Isom told the Post.
"She was the one who yelled fire, and that's the sad part. She saved our lives," he said.
The firefighters who reached the spot pulled Ms Abdrazack out but she later died in hospital.
All others in the house - Isom, his wife and son and two other adults - survived.
The family members said they slept without switching off the lights. "Unfortunately, they wanted to keep the lights on until the last minute and we all happened to fall asleep and we had an instant, seconds to get out. It was fast, and that's how quick it went. I'm talking minutes," Isom told KCRA3.
He added that two family dogs also died in the incident.
Neighbours tried to help, but said the fire was "too intense" and "moving too fast".
"They were screaming, 'Destiny! There's someone inside! There's someone inside! There was nothing any of us could do," one of the neighbours Brandy Byers said.
He family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover her funeral and hospital expenses.
