( CNN ) -- Country singer Trace Adkins lost his home to fire Saturday , but his three young daughters were saved by following fire safety tips they learned at school , Adkins ' wife said . The flames apparently ignited in the garage , but quickly spread to the attic of the large home Saturday afternoon , said Brentwood , Tennessee , Fire Chief Brian Goss . The house is considered a total loss . `` Stuff is stuff , '' Rhonda Adkins told a reporter for CNN affiliate WSMV in Nashville as she stood on a neighbor 's lawn watching her home burn . Her three young daughters and their dog were inside the home with their nanny when the fire started . Rhonda Adkins was driving a few blocks away when a neighbor called her . `` She said that the house was on fire and we looked up in the air and we saw the black smoke , '' Adkins said . `` And I said , 'Oh , my God , this is n't happening , this is n't real . ' '' When she pulled up to her yard , she found her children there unhurt , she said . `` They ran to their safe place like we practiced , in the front yard at a big tree , '' she said . `` And it worked . You know , fire safety is so important , and today we used it . '' Brentwood firefighters , the same ones who were inside her home battling the flames , visited her children 's elementary school to teach fire safety earlier this year , she said . One lesson was to place a yellow ribbon where the family should gather if the house caught fire . `` I tied the yellow ribbon around the tree to go to , '' she said . `` It stayed there for about a month . Trace kept going , 'When you gon na take that ribbon down ? ' and I 'm like , 'You know , I might need it one day . ' '' Adkins said she never really expected it to be needed . `` But we did what those firefighters told us and we practiced it today , '' she said . `` It saved my kids ' lives . '' With her daughters , their nanny and the family dog safe , Adkins said it was easy for her to be calm and thankful despite the loss of her home . She did have one regret , though . `` I have not backed up all my photographs , and I 'm just sitting here sick because those are the things that matter the most , '' she said . `` It 's your memories , our wedding pictures , I do n't have , because the negatives are in the house . `` Please , everybody , practice fire safety , and back up all your pictures , '' she said . Her husband was on a plane to Alaska for two shows and some fishing when the fire happened . His publicist said he immediately boarded a return flight to Tennessee when he landed . `` Trace wishes to express his gratitude for the immediate response of the Brentwood Fire Department and is humbled by the outpouring of concern from friends and fans , '' his spokesman said in a written statement to CNN Sunday . Coincidentally , Adkins ' newest single , `` Just Fishin , ' '' is being released this week . The video , which features the singer and his youngest child , Trinity , on a father-daughter fishing trip , was released Friday . Adkins , 49 , was a finalist on NBC 's `` Celebrity Apprentice '' in 2008 , but host Donald Trump chose Piers Morgan , now a CNN talk show host , as the winner . CNN 's Denise Quan contributed to this report .
Flames started in the garage and quickly spread , the fire chief says . Adkins ' three daughters ran from the burning house to a planned safe place . A ' visit to their school ` ` saved my daughters ' lives , '' Rhonda Adkins says . Adkins was on his way to Alaska for singing and fishing .