Overheated battery causes shed fire

Firefighters are advising residents to take care when charging batteries after an overheated battery caused a shed fire in Colchester early this morning.

Two crews from Colchester were called to Halstead Road in Colchester at 2:41am.

On arrival, firefighters reported that a large shed was 100% alight and the smoke was beginning to affect the house.

Crews extinguished the fire by 3:28am and believe the fire was caused by a battery that had overheated while charging.

If you need to charge batteries or charge devices with larger batteries in, please follow our safety advice:

• Don’t leave items on charge or plugged in overnight or while you are out of the house
• Never leave chargers plugged in and turned on when they are not in use
• Don’t leave items on charge for long periods
• Only use the charger supplied by the manufacturer
• Look out for the CE mark that indicates chargers comply with European Safety standards.