A young woman was left mortified after the fire brigade turned up to put out a ‘fire’ only for them to discover that it was just a video of a yule log playing on the TV.
Lydia Maskell turned on the video of the Yule log to keep her Cocker Spaniel, Romeo, comforted while she went shopping.
Just 10 minutes after she’d left the house on Wednesday (Sept 25) she got a notification from her video doorbell.
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The 23-year-old was shocked to find a fire officer and two fire engines outside her home.
A hilarious video posted to TikTok shows the start of Lydia’s evening where she can be seen relaxing with a glass of wine in front of the fake flames.
Next, a firefighter can be heard explaining to Lydia through the doorbell that a neighbour had called 999 after spotting the fire through their window.
“I don’t have a lamp in the living room so I put the video of the fire on so I don’t have to sit in the dark,” Lydia, from Peacehaven, East Sussex, told What’s the Jam.
“It makes the room nice and cosy.
“I wanted a relaxing evening. I just wanted to chill.
“I went shopping for candles with my friend and left the fire on for the dog.
“Only 10 minutes later, I got a notification from the doorbell app.
“When I saw the firefighters, I thought ‘oh sh*t’.
“I’d been making fajitas but I was sure I’d turned the hob off.
“They said there’s a fire on the TV and a neighbour had called.
“They’d gone into the back garden, looked through the window and seen it was on the TV.
“It was mortifying. It’s something that would only happen to me. You couldn’t write it.”
The video has racked up more than 73,000 views and 7,000 likes.
In the clip, the software trainer holds a glass of wine while sitting in front of the screen.
She says: “The vibes here are immaculate.
“We have the fire, we have the wine, we have the Kindle, we have the candle and my dinner is in the oven.”
Looking into the doorbell camera, the firefighter says: “There’s a fire on your television and one of your neighbours has reported it but there’s no fire. Thank you.”
Dad, Gary Maskell, 41, and stepmum, Emma Bridge, 44, were on holiday in Spain and were shocked when they logged on to their doorbell app to see two fire engines outside.
Gary and Emma plan on taking a gift around to the neighbour to apologise and thank them for looking out for the family.
Lydia added: “I haven’t spoken to the neighbour yet but my parents are going to take a bottle of wine over.
“They were on holiday so they were worried when they saw firefighters outside.
“We are so incredibly thankful for the fire service and our neighbour for looking out for us.”
An East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “An incident in Peacehaven, at 6.49pm on 25th September was recorded as a false alarm with good intent.”
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