House fire

Firefighters were called to a house fire in East Mersea just after midnight after the residents were woken up by their smoke alarms.

On arrival, crews reported that a two-storey timber framed house was on fire and heavily smoke logged.

The fire was starting to spread to a 1,800 litre heating oil tank and crews worked to prevent the fire spreading further.

Firefighters extinguished the fire by 1:56am.

An investigation into the cause of the fire will take place today.

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

The residents in this incident had working smoke alarms in their home that were going off when firefighters arrived.

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 in.

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.

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

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters at West Mersea Fire Station are on-call firefighters, who live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and are paid to attend incidents in their community.

If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter.

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