A couple whose home is likely to be demolished after the devastating fire say they feel lucky despite losing “practically everything”.

For Sarah Horton, 28, and Dan Berry, 33, the flat they shared at the Tannery development in Canterbury was their first home together.

But this week they face the prospect of being homeless after learning there is an 80% chance it will have to be torn down.

Sarah had lived there for more than five years and bought the flat with Dan last year in a shared-ownership scheme with Town and Country Housing.

Speaking on Monday, she said: “It was our first foot on the property ladder. Just 48 hours ago, this was a really desirable place to live, in the centre of Canterbury, parking, two bedrooms, a good investment for us as a first property, but now no one is going to want to live here.”

MAKE A DONATION

Sarah was out when the fire started but, in a twist of fate that probably saved the life of their cat, Lupo, Dan returned home early from a football tournament after his pal twisted an ankle.

“I had all the windows open and I could smell smoke,” he said. “I thought ‘Is someone having a barbecue? In The Tannery?’.

“I shut the windows because there was a lot of smoke coming in. I saw a couple of fire engines and saw the roof was on fire down the far end and spreading pretty quickly.”

Dan, a substance misuse worker for Addaction, added: “I went outside and they had cordoned the road off. I said ‘Am I safe here?’. They said ‘You’re all right at the moment, get a bag just in case’. I went upstairs and got the cat, who’s a nightmare to get hold of, ready to go.

“I could see the firefighters were very quickly moving down the street towards us. It felt like it happened really, really quickly.

"People were screaming outside and children were crying. They’d been evacuated and were watching their homes burn..." - Dan Berry

“Then one of the firemen started banging on the door, saying ‘You need to get out’.

“When I was getting the cat, I felt a vibration and a bang and people were screaming outside and children were crying. They’d been evacuated and were watching their homes burn.”

By Saturday evening, the pair, who are staying with friends, hoped their two-bed first floor flat had avoided the worst.

Sarah, who works in the partnership development office at the University of Kent, said: “We went to bed knowing it had hit our building, and that’s all we knew.”

But on Sunday they discovered flames had penetrated the roof above. “I burst into tears when I saw it,” said Sarah.

“The whole roof was burned. I saw that they were pouring water on to our flat. At that point we knew there was going to be quite a lot of damage.”

In fact, firefighters had smashed a hole in their lounge wall to get to the adjacent flat to fight the fire.

They were allowed to collect belongings on Monday morning but were warned to stick to what they needed, rather than what they wanted, and to come back for the rest. But an hour later at Westgate Hall, by chance, Sarah found the future of their home was in serious doubt.

“Town and Country staff had a briefing and when they came back, one of the guys sat opposite me with big sheets of paper with people’s names and numbers on it.

“Next to some of them, he had written ‘Gone’. I noticed there was ours, the flat above and to the left. He said they were being demolished. In red it said ‘80 per cent chance of being demolished’. I said ‘When did that happen? I was there an hour ago’.”

With help from Sarah’s dad, Ray, they frantically arranged to collect as many possessions as possible.

“We got most of our clothes but left the furniture. Everything was soaking.”

The pair have continued to stay with friends and have been told they can search for somewhere else to live of an equivalent size, with insurance due to cover the cost. They also said they were grateful to strangers who responded to a plea for replacement items for their cat.

Reflecting on what happened, Sarah knows it could have been worse.

“We are among the lucky ones because we have had the opportunity to go in and salvage what we could, even if they do demolish it.

“It’s so heartbreaking to go there. You can see bits of people’s wallpaper in the rubble. It’s their lives. So compared with them we are lucky.

“We’ve lost practically everything and yet we are still lucky.”

Another victim had had her life already blighted by tragedy following the death of her partner on a building site.

"It’s so heartbreaking to go there. You can see bits of people’s wallpaper in the rubble. It’s their lives..." - Sarah Horton

But now mum-of-four Colette Osborne has found herself homeless after her flat burned down in the blaze.

She has also lost many treasured possessions of her “soulmate”, Callum.

They include a box of mementos she made for his daughter Star, who was born just weeks after he died when a trench collapsed on him in Swalecliffe in 2011.

Yet she says her family and the others whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by fire are lucky to be alive.

She said: “If it had started in the middle of night, I think they would have been pulling bodies out because of the speed the fire took hold and spread.”

Colette, 34, was with her children at Toddlers Cove play park when she received a message saying there was a fire in the Tannery development.

“I just thought it was something small and they would put it out, but when I got back, it looked like an inferno,” she said.

She crossed a cordon and pleaded with firefighters to save her dog, which they did just minutes before the flat was engulfed in flames.

As bulldozers moved in this week to demolish the charred ruins, Colette could see what was left of her bedroom.

She said: “In a drawer in my bedroom was a silver charm bracelet and ring which Callum gave me for my 30th birthday. I could not bear to lose it and thankfully the demolition men said they would try and find it.

“They came back a while later with them and I cannot thank Lee, Adam and Gavin from Goody Demolition enough because what they recovered is very precious to me.

“They also managed to salvage a few photos and my car keys.”
Colette and her children Star, four, Rayne, eight, Mason, 12, and Ellis, 14, have all moved into temporary accommodation offered by Canterbury Christ Church University.

She said: “I’ve lost everything and it’s probably cost me £20,000 because I didn’t have contents insurance. All the children’s clothes and toys are gone. We’ve pretty much been left with what we were wearing.

“I have to say the city council and other agencies like the Red Cross have been superb and really tried to help, but I’ve no idea where we’ll be living in a few weeks when we have to move out of the student accommodation.

“I moved into my flat seven years ago, but I couldn’t go back when it’s all rebuilt.
“It would never feel the same and I’m not sure I would trust it to be safe again.”

The KM Group has set up a fundraising appeal to help the families affected.

To make a donation click here.