Decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving may seem like a matter of personal preference, but for Heritage Halls resident McKayla Evans, the choice proved deadly. 

On November 18th, McKayla’s Instagram story showed her and her roommates decorating their apartment for the holidays. The story included a video of the twelve power strips and nine extension cords required to accommodate an astounding amount of lights and animatronics while Mariah Carrey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You” played in the background. The caption read, “#womeninSTEM.” In a twist of cruel foreshadowing, her roommate posted a similar story with several flame and gas can emojis.

The next day, a roaring electrical fire tore through Heritage Halls, causing McKayla’s death and thousands of dollars of damage. Three students were injured, including Amanda Larson. She was physically unharmed but lost her entire Lululemon collection to the fire. “We thought it was going to be a slay,” says a tearful Amanda. “And I guess it was, just not in the way we wanted.”

BYU is offering counseling to anyone negatively affected by the tragedy. The institution is also holding a mandatory fire safety seminar to prevent any more festive catastrophes. 

“Obviously it’s really sad and everything, but the lights were so bright that they were changing bird migration patterns,” said ornithology major Talon Jones. “I had to wear sunglasses when I walked past their building to keep my retinas from being permanently burned.”

“You wouldn’t think any more lights could possibly happen because of all the [redacted] fairy twinkle lights that they already had up,” says veteran RA Myah Simpson. “But life finds a way.”