Joan Collins talks London flat fire
Dame Joan Collins talks blaze drama.
Dame Joan Collins suffered a recent flat fire.
Dame Joan Collins gave her first interview since she and husband Percy narrowly escaped with their lives after a fire engulfed their London flat. Speaking earlier today the actress pondered the speed of the flames, the cause and gave praise to the fire services.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the former star of stateside ‘super saga’ Dynasty, spoke about being in the flat as the fire took hold earlier this month.
“It was more than scary. It was Saturday afternoon and we could have gone to a movie. But because I wasn’t feeling too well – I had jet lag and you know when you get that cold from jet lag – so we were lying on the bed. I was lying in the bed in my pyjamas ‘cause I wasn’t well. [Percy] was lying on top [of the duvet] and we were watching a movie, As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson.”
Joan has previously appeared on Channel 4 in the flat with hubby Percy in the series Married to a Celebrity.
The 85-year-old actress, who married Percy in 2002, went on to note how all homes should have working smoke detectors and urged that abodes should also, like commercial buildings, have at least one fire extinguisher.
“I said, ‘There’s a beeping on the screen’. He said, ‘No, it’s not a beeping on the screen’. Then I said, ‘It’s coming from outside, it’s our smoke alarm’. And believe me, I’m not exaggerating, there was two feet of smoke from the ceiling. It was in the guest bathroom at the end of the corridor. He said, ‘Call 999’ and I went to call 911 stupidly. No, I didn’t, I called 999. Percy came out and he said there were flames on the curtains in the bathroom. He went and grabbed a fire extinguisher – which may I say everybody should have one, and everybody should have a smoke alarm. If we hadn’t had either of those we would have been gone.”
The performer, who has also appeared in UK productions including Anglia Television’s Tales of the Unexpected and a special video-released episode of Coronation Street from Granada Television, noted how Percy possibly saved both their lives by acting fast to dampen the flames, although the fire services urge against tackling such a huge fire directly.
“When the fire people came in they said, ‘You were very, very lucky you got it so early and your husband put out the major flames.’ It went up in two minutes… the smoke was unbelievable. By the time I had finished, [speaking to] 999 in the corridor, and they were saying, ‘Get him out of there’. The whole corridor, the whole of our front hall, was full of smoke… [Percy is] my hero, he saved my life.”
Joan makes a cameo in a special for-video episode of Coronation Street.
Joan further revealed to ITV breakfast regulars Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that the cause of the fire was brought about by a simple everyday household object.
“It was a mirror on the window sill, and it caught the sun, the sun was very low that day. It caused a spark and it immediately set light to the curtains. One of the fire people said it happens a lot.”
The actress best-known for her 1980s role of super-bitch Alexis Carrington Colby in the original Dynasty series, also gave praise to the Soho Fire Station staff, and was later surprised when GMB brought the firefighters into the studio.
Bowing to them, Joan said: ‘God, you were fantastic. Brilliant. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You saved our lives.’
