House fire - PHOTOS

Crews were called to a house fire at a detached property in Tolleshunt Knights.

On arrival firefighters reported that both the ground and first floor were completely alight. 

Station Manager Scott Meekings said:

"Our crews have worked extremely hard in difficult conditions. Water supplies have been poor but we are working to use a nearby open water source to pump the water and help extinguish the fire."

Incident Commander Dan Kirk added:

"The roof has collapsed and the house has been completely destroyed, but thankfully everyone is safe with no injuries. 

"We have divided the incident into sections and are continuing to work to bring it under control."

Update 5pm

Firefighters have established a good water supply from a nearby large pond and are using a high volume pump to move the water from the pond to the incident site. 

The incident has now been scaled back to three fire engines plus the aerial ladder platform and high volume pump.

Although the main fire has been extinguished it has got into insulation and wall cavities of the house so crews expect to stay at the incident for some time as they continue to dampen down and turn over. 

Update 7.30pm

Crews will continue to dampen down the area in sections until it is completely cooled. 

Officers will carry out an investigation into the cause of the fire as soon as it is possible.

Update 11:30am, 19 April

An investigation was carried out and found the cause of the fire was accidental.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Some of the firefighters who attended this incident are on-call firefighters; people who all live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and are paid to attend all sorts of incidents. 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 join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call