Care home evacuated following kitchen fire

Firefighters were called to the scene of a fire at a care home in Black Notley this evening.

Saffron Walden firefighters, who were responding in the area at the time, arrived at the scene first and confirmed that the entire ground floor of the property was smoke-logged.

Care workers had evacuated 16 residents from the building - and thankfully, no-one was harmed.

Howard Midwood, Station Manager, said: "I'd like to thank Watch Manager Paul Curtis and his crew from Saffron Walden who were in the area and first on scene this evening - they did an excellent job of getting the fire under control as quickly as possible.

"The employees at this care home were also quick-thinking and did the right thing in getting everyone out safely and letting our firefighters tackle the fire. We really appreciate their support.

"Fortunately, while the kitchen area has been badly damaged, most of the damage has been contained."

The fire was extinguished by 6.07pm. The cause has been recorded as accidental.

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Firefighters who attended this incident are on-call firefighters, who all live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station and attend incidents.

If you live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter too.

Find out more about the role at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call