Thursday 4 October 2012

Pop star Duffy saves her cats and dog as blaze rips through her £12m flat

- Cats and dog come before possessions as singer flees fire

Penthouse flat: Fire broke out (PICTURE BY: NIGEL HOWARD)
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Penthouse flat: Fire broke out (PICTURE BY: NIGEL HOWARD)

It's a question often asked in celebrity interviews — if fire was engulfing your home, what would you rescue first?
Welsh singer Duffy, 28, can now answer from experience: her pets.
She was forced to flee her £12 million home in Kensington last night after a blaze broke out in the loft-style apartment.
Ignoring possessions — it’s not known whether her Grammy award and three Brits were stored there , her only thought was for her two cats and a dog.
Neighbours said the Smoke Without Fire singer appeared dazed as she was led from the penthouse, which is on the ninth and 10th floors.
While she managed to rescue the dog and one cat, another called Felix disappeared in the chaos and Duffy was seen crying out: “Where’s my cat? Come on, come here.”
Neighbour Maria McLeod. 47, gave the singer coffee after she fled the blaze but didn’t realise who she was at the time. She said: “I gave her a cup of coffee and she said her cleaner was there and needed some too. She was lovely, just in shock.
“I asked her what had happened. She said ‘that’s my flat!’ kind of half-laughing in shock.
“She said that when she left the flat she had to shout ‘Felix this is your last chance!’ She thought they would have to leave him there.
“I just felt sorry for her.”
Rassa Borghei, 58, who lives on the fifth floor, said: “She was running about all over the place. When the police arrived they calmed her.” A friend eventually found the cat hiding under a white van and after being reunited with her owner, the two were driven away in a black Mercedes just before 10pm.
More than 20 other residents in the block weren’t so lucky — they had to spend the night in a nearby rescue centre after being told to evacuate their flats.
While Duffy’s cats escaped without injury, neighbours say the singer also had pet goldfish. Their fate is unknown. More than 60 firefighters battled for six hours to put out the fire, which started just before 7pm, and crews were continuing to dampen down the building this morning. An investigation has been launched.
The rented apartment has its own swimming pool, cinema and two outdoor terraces. Duffy was due to leave the property in the next few days.
The fire comes just as the singer, whose full name is Aimee Ann Duffy, was beginning to make her first tentative steps back into the music world. She rocketed to fame in 2008 with her debut album Rockferry which sold 1.6 million copies but her second album, Endlessly, had disappointing sales and last year her record company announced she was taking an extended break.
A former manager is suing her for breach of contract and last May she split up with Welsh international rugby star Mike Phillips.
It is thought she had recently returned to the recording studio and was due to perform in the United Arab Emirates this month.

From LonEvening Standard

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