It was a horrible OMG moment, we’d been lulled into a cosy sense of festive warmth surrounded by Christmas lights, the kids carol concert, and especially by the magical tones of the little soloist, what a beautiful voice, lucky child.

Hmmm, not always so lucky... Those feelings quickly turned to stunned, horrified and upset when we heard what had happened to the little soloist’s home while she was singing for us.

Her house had been wrecked – not by thieves spying presents through the open curtains as they do, especially when they’re highlighted by bright lights on the tree). No. Worse than that. One of the ‘so pretty’ tree lights had burned out, overheated, just one little light and the whole tree went up in flames ‘whoosh!!!'.

Sounds like the fire brigade did a great job of putting out the fire quickly but sadly not before the fire had taken hold. It was ablaze for minutes, the whole room was ruined. The presents arranged under the tree were wrecked, the sofa too, the curtains had turned into black smudges on the ceiling. Thank goodness for nosey neighbours, who were alert enough to notice that something was wrong in the front room of the house.

The smoke damage was so bad though the family's had to leave their home, and move in with relatives while the damage is assessed and eventually put right. No-one dares think how long that might be. But at least they were insured, thank goodness. That’s scant consolation when Christmas has been reduced to ashes though.

If only... they had switched off the Christmas tree lights

There are so many ‘if onlys’: If only they had replaced those old lights with a new set; if only they'd realised you should never leave lights unattended, let alone leave them on while you're out; if only they’d switched off all the sockets before going out; if only.....

They’re a strong family though and have managed to find some good in this whole sorry story - thankful it happened while they were out of the house, and not during the night. Things could have been so much worse. Especially as they didn’t have a fire alarm... or even a smoke detector.

If only... they had a smoke detector as part of their home security system

Nowadays it’s easy and inexpensive to fit a smoke alarm but many people don't realise that this can be linked to the burglar alarm system so you are alerted by text if your smoke alarm goes off. If you have 24/7 monitoring, the fire brigade could even have been arrived on the scene before you do.

With so many electronic gadgets in our homes it’s more important than ever to shield our loved ones from fire.

The fact is, tree lights DO burn out, laptops DO overheat and catch fire, mobile ‘phone chargers DO overheat, the list is long. Don’t leave it long to fit that home security system you’ve been promising yourself!

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Our team are ready to take your call and walk you through the various ways in which we can protect your property from fire.