Kitchen fire

Crews have issued safety advice after a kitchen fire in Waltham Abbey.

Firefighters from Waltham Abbey and Loughton attended The Gladeway today at 12.39pm.

A pan containing oil had caught fire in the oven and set it alight. The occupant was in the garden when he heard the smoke alarm sounding and called 999.

Crew Manager Mav Langdon said: "We were doing a home safety visit in the area so we were only a few hundred yards away and quickly extinguished the fire.

"The incident shows the dangers of leaving cooking unattended, but thankfully there was a working smoke alarm which acted as an early warning.

"We want every home in Essex to have smoke alarms - they can alert you to a fire and give you a chance to escape your home safely."

To arrange a free smoke alarm fitting, call 0300 303 0088 or visit essex-fire.gov.uk/book.

The fire was extinguished by 1.04pm and crews used a fan to clear the smoke.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Waltham Abbey Fire Station is recruiting on-call firefighters. If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be paid to protect your community as an on-call firefighter. Find out more at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call.