A young woman tragically died in a house fire on Christmas morning which was caused by an artificial tree setting alight.
Twenty-two-year-old Destiny Abdrazack from California had been celebrating the Christmas holidays at her fiancé’s family home in North Highlands when an electrical short caused the blaze to break out at around 2am on 25th December.
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Her future father-in-law, Ernest Isom, explained what had happened, saying that the family had fallen asleep on Christmas Eve and were awoken by Destiny yelling that the flames had started to engulf the house.
“Unfortunately, they wanted to keep the lights on until the last minute and we all happen to fall asleep and we had an instant, seconds to get out," he said.
“It was fast, and that's how quick it went. I'm talking minutes.
“Unfortunately, she (Destiny) was the one who yelled fire, and that's the sad part. She saved our lives.”
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Destiny had bravely alerted the other five people in the home about the fire. They were then able to escape, but she was caught in the blaze along with her in-law-to-bes' pet dogs, KCRA reports.
It has been revealed that none of the fire alarms in the home were working at the time of the incident.
Richard Byers, a man from a neighbouring home who was woken up by the noise, said: “They were screaming, 'Destiny, there's someone inside, Destiny'. There was nothing any of us could do.
“You could see the flickering light on the tree and that's kind of like the telltale sign of a fire.”
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Byers and another neighbour had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and garden hose but were unsuccessful due to the sheer size and fast-spreading nature.
"The fire just came right back," Byers said. "It was too intense, moving too fast."
Despite Abdrazack being pulled out by firefighters, she sadly passed away in hospital shortly afterwards. Both family dogs had also passed away in the fire and the home was completely destroyed.
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Following Abdrazack's death, her mourning family have launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the young woman's funeral. The description reads "On Christmas morning at 2am the Isom family lost everything in a house fire that started and spread rapidly.
"Destiny is one of the most beautiful souls that crossed our paths.
"She is no longer [here] but she will always be with us. Any donation at this time helps. All donations and funds will go to Destiny’s parents and her siblings for hospital and funeral costs."
Our thoughts and condolences are with Abdrazack's family and friends at this time.
Harley Young