Christmas decoration prank backfires after neighbours appear to call firefighters

A decorators elaborate Christmas decorations on his house backfired after his neighbours mistook the realistic prank for an actual accident and called 911.

Doug Peterson, from Oceanport, New Jersey wanted to recreate a famous scene from the comedy classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase gets stuck hanging from the roof of his house.

Peterson went to such painstaking detail that he even managed to install a motor to make his dummy’s legs move while it dangled from the guttering as well as sound and lighting effects, plus a fallen ladder to really add to the scene.

Yet the set-up was so realistic that it appears that it took some of his neighbours by surprise.

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In a clip that Peterson shared on TikTok, that shows him making the scenario, it cuts to the sounds of sirens and a fire engine arriving on the scene after apparently being alerted by the neighbours.

It’s unclear whether the fire service was arriving to deal with the dummy hanging from the roof or whether they were responding to another incident close by or if Peterson got in trouble with the fire department.

Regardless, the effort put into the prank has earned Peterson internet fame as one of the videos of him constructing the prank has now been viewed on TikTok more than 4 million times.

As you can imagine, people thought the prank and the fact that the emergency services were called to the scene was hilarious.

One person wrote: “Ha ha! As a 911 dispatcher I used to get calls every year about a house that hung a body for Halloween this is soooo much better.”

A second said: “911 what’s your emergency? There’s a guy......nevermind.”

A third person wisely observed: “Love how someone called for help rather than actually went over to help.”