Fire at commercial premises

Firefighters were called to reports of a fire at a premises in Roots Hall Avenue, Southend this evening.

To confirm, this fire was not affecting the football stadium itself.

At 6.30pm, firefighters reported that a large quantity of astroturf was alight, which was creating a significant amount of smoke. Crews were working hard to prevent the spread of the fire.

At 7pm, the incident commander reported that steady progress was being made. The incident commander advised  that several tonnes of astroturf continue to be around 20% alight.

Because the fire is deeply seated within the material, a mechanical digger will be used to move the material around and make it easier for crews to extinguish.

Crews expected to be at the scene for some time.

At 8pm, the incident commander reported that good progress was continuing to be made in extinguishing the fire.

However, we expected this to be a protracted incident and that eliminating hotspots within the material would take some time this evening.

At 10pm, three crews remained at the scene. The mechanical digger was due to shortly begin moving around the material to help crews to eliminate remaining hotspots.

Firefighters left the scene at around 11.30pm. The cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental or deliberate.