Canterbury high street survives huge fire at Debenhams store

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.

Transcript

00:00Caught on camera, one of Kent's most famous high streets burning into the night.

00:0750 firefighters and 8 fire engines were called to Canterbury city centre after a derelict

00:14department store caught fire.

00:17As the smoke cleared this morning, the flames were under control, but far from out, with

00:25police cordons blocking off Canterbury's main through way.

00:28There have been fires, but I haven't seen one on the high street, no, and I've been

00:34here for 74 years.

00:37It's empty, it was only discovered late last night I believe, but an empty building has

00:42got risk of fire because no one's keeping an eye on it.

00:46It's ruined about four hours this morning, I need to get to the bank to rectify a payment

00:53error that they've made on my account, and I can't do that now.

00:59Just over my shoulder you can see Kent Fire and Rescue hard at work.

01:05Dozens have been tackling the fire that broke out in the old Debenhams building since last

01:11night, with at least 20 people being forced out of their homes by the fire.

01:19But from what we've been hearing, it could have actually been much worse, despite much

01:24of the high street being cordoned off.

01:26So we evacuated about nine flats in the close proximity, about 30 people, but if we hadn't

01:33have acted in an assertive, safe and effective manner, this would have seen the whole block

01:39destroyed, which would have been devastating to the city of Canterbury.

01:43Before the businesses based in the historic buildings near the fire, those fears were

01:49felt first hand.

01:50About three o'clock in the morning I got a message from one of my colleagues saying be

01:55aware that the centre of Canterbury is ablaze, that was the expression he used.

01:59We're very worried about the whole city going up because it's all wood round here, and it

02:02may look like brick, it's all mathematical tile and cover, and if there was such a thing

02:06as backdraft or flashback, it would catch all these buildings alight.

02:10Residents will be allowed to return to their homes when the fire is finally out.

02:17Only then will investigators be able to start piecing together exactly what caused Canterbury

02:25to have such a narrow escape.

02:28Oliver Leader, The Sacks, for KMTV.