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Canterbury high street survives huge fire at Debenhams store
KentOnline / KMTV
Follow
03/12/2024
Streets have been cordoned off for most of the day as emergency services battled to keep the incident under control.
Oliver leader de Saxe reports.
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00:00
Caught on camera, one of Kent's most famous high streets burning into the night.
00:07
50 firefighters and 8 fire engines were called to Canterbury city centre after a derelict
00:14
department store caught fire.
00:17
As the smoke cleared this morning, the flames were under control, but far from out, with
00:25
police cordons blocking off Canterbury's main through way.
00:28
There have been fires, but I haven't seen one on the high street, no, and I've been
00:34
here for 74 years.
00:37
It's empty, it was only discovered late last night I believe, but an empty building has
00:42
got risk of fire because no one's keeping an eye on it.
00:46
It's ruined about four hours this morning, I need to get to the bank to rectify a payment
00:53
error that they've made on my account, and I can't do that now.
00:59
Just over my shoulder you can see Kent Fire and Rescue hard at work.
01:05
Dozens have been tackling the fire that broke out in the old Debenhams building since last
01:11
night, with at least 20 people being forced out of their homes by the fire.
01:19
But from what we've been hearing, it could have actually been much worse, despite much
01:24
of the high street being cordoned off.
01:26
So we evacuated about nine flats in the close proximity, about 30 people, but if we hadn't
01:33
have acted in an assertive, safe and effective manner, this would have seen the whole block
01:39
destroyed, which would have been devastating to the city of Canterbury.
01:43
Before the businesses based in the historic buildings near the fire, those fears were
01:49
felt first hand.
01:50
About three o'clock in the morning I got a message from one of my colleagues saying be
01:55
aware that the centre of Canterbury is ablaze, that was the expression he used.
01:59
We're very worried about the whole city going up because it's all wood round here, and it
02:02
may look like brick, it's all mathematical tile and cover, and if there was such a thing
02:06
as backdraft or flashback, it would catch all these buildings alight.
02:10
Residents will be allowed to return to their homes when the fire is finally out.
02:17
Only then will investigators be able to start piecing together exactly what caused Canterbury
02:25
to have such a narrow escape.
02:28
Oliver Leader, The Sacks, for KMTV.
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