Fire outside flat in Tilbury

Firefighters were called to a property in Tilbury in the early hours of the morning, when a smoke alarm alerted an occupant to a fire outside her front door.

Crews were called to Calcutta Road, Tilbury, at 3:28am, after a woman was woken by her smoke alarm and discovered a fire outside of her home. Our control team stayed on the phone as she waited for crews to arrive, issuing fire survival guidance to keep her and her son as safe as possible.

On arrival, firefighters confirmed there was a fire at the front of the property which was blocking the entrance, and smoke was entering the flat.

Crews worked hard to extinguish the fire, and cleared the property of smoke by 4:15am.

An investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the fire.

Watch Manager at Grays, Kieran Davis, said: “I really want to praise the crews, who acted quickly to prevent damage to the property.

“This is a really great example of how working smoke alarms can save your life. We recommend you have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and that you test them at least once a month.”

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

Smoke alarms save lives. They can alert your family as well as your neighbours and passers-by to a fire in your home if you're not home.

If you or someone you know doesn’t have working smoke alarms, please get in touch. Visit essex-fire.gov.uk/book or call 0300 303 0088.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters from Corringham Fire Station are on-call firefighters. If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter and be paid to protect your community too.

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