3 dogs rescued from kitchen fire - safety advice issued

Firefighters have issued safety advice after rescuing three dogs from a kitchen fire in Colchester on Sunday evening.

Neighbours of the property, which is detached and measures roughly 10 metres by 6 metres, noticed smoke coming from the building and immediately called 999.

When crews arrived, they reported that the kitchen of the property was completely alight - no-one was home at the time.

Three dogs - one dobermann and two spaniels - were rescued and fortunately are unharmed.

Darren Waite, Crew Manager at Colchester, said: "Firefighters did brilliantly well to contain this fire to the kitchen of this home - when we arrived it was spreading quickly.

"The neighbours' quick actions in calling 999 immediately when they noticed smoke made all the difference - if they hadn't, it might easily have been much more serious - particularly for the three dogs involved.

"This incident demonstrates once again that leaving materials on your hob, whether it's cooking items, washing, tea towels - or as we saw in this case, rubbish - is incredibly dangerous. If the hob is accidentally left on or turned on, then whatever is on it will quickly catch fire. Please, don't take the risk and never use your hob as a storage area."

The fire was extinguished by 9.35pm. The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental.

For more cooking fire safety advice, click here.