SHAMEN HAZZARD lost what little she had when a fire tore through her canal boat and killed one of her dogs yesterday.

But the 41-year-old remained defiant as she surveyed the wreckage of ‘Just Chillin’: “My life has gone up in flames ... I suppose I’ll start again and move on.”

She had been out in Jericho on Wednesday night when a friend alerted her the vessel she rented near William Lucy Way was on fire.

Firefighters were already battling the blaze and a shocked Ms Hazzard, who has lived in Oxford since she was 15, said: “My friend came and told me that my boat was on fire so I came back and saw the boat on fire, it was terrible.

Our top stories

“There were police, ambulances and fire engines everywhere. I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there with my head in my hands.

“I own four dogs and one of them didn’t manage to get off the boat, I’m devastated by it.

“They should have all got out, there shouldn’t have been one left in there.”

Oxford Mail:

Firefighters and investigators on board the burnt-out canal boat yesterday. 

A man in his 50s – believed to be Ms Hazzard’s ex-partner – was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital. His injuries were not known yesterday.

The dog that died in the fire was a two-year-old cross between a Border collie and a Staffordshire Terrier named Bliss.

The dog’s mother Coco, eight, and other dogs Milo, six, and Picasso, 14, managed to escape.

Ms Hazzard said she had stayed up all night watching firefighters battle the flames and try to salvage her personal possessions.

She added: “I’m just shattered.

When I got here I was so shocked. I was just waiting for them to get my dog out of there so I can bury her.

“I have a special place in mind so I’m going to go with some of my friends.

“I’ve lost most of my personal possessions like my radio and all my books, which I loved to read.

“All my clothes, bedding is lost, I won’t know how it will start until the investigation from the fire service is complete.

“My life has gone up in flames.”

Yesterday the fire investigation was continuing.

Police said no one had been arrested.

Ms Hazzard added: “My dogs are my family, and we are gutted about Bliss, but I suppose I’ll start again and move on.

“My friend has offered to take me in until I get sorted, so I suppose I’ll go from there.”