Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘If the fire had started in the night, they would have been pulling bodies out’
Her life has already been blighted by tragedy following the death of her partner on a building site.
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 The silver bracelet and ring given to Colette by Callum, pictured together right, that were recovered from the flat 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.”