Crews extinguish thatch fire

Crews extinguished a thatch roof fire in Rayne.

We were called to Long Lane on Saturday (26 April) at 10.54pm where the thatched roof of a two-storey building measuring 15 metres by 10 metres was 50% alight.

At the height of the incident, nine crews - from Braintree, Chelmsford (two), Great Dunmow, Halstead, Maldon, Thaxted, Tiptree and Wethersfield - were in attendance, along with an Incident Command Unit from Witham and a Water Bowser, to supply large volumes of water, from Halstead.

Group Manager Scott Meekings said: "Although there were working smoke alarms, thankfully the occupants were awake and noticed when the fire started, got out and called 999.

"Crews worked really hard to get the fire under control and remove the thatch material.

"We were able to scale the incident down by around 2am but crews remained at the scene into the morning to turn over the materials and dampen down."

It is believed the fire was caused by a log burner.