PHOTOS - Barn fire
UPDATE 11AM Saturday, 26 June
One crew remained at the scene overnight and officers are now working with the owners to start to hand the site back over. Crews will revisit the scene periodically over the next few days to make sure it remains safe.
Officers will carry out an investigation into the cause when it is safe to do so.
UPDATE 3PM Friday, 25 June
One crew remains at the scene to dampen down the fire and will remain overnight at the incident to monitor the scene.
Due to wind, there is a lot of smoke being blown around and this is likely to continue into the evening.
If you live in the area, please keep your windows and doors shut.
UPDATE 10:25AM Friday, 25 June
Due to wind, there is a lot of smoke being blown around at the barn fire in Asheldham.
If you live in the area, please keep your windows and doors shut.
UPDATE 10AM Friday, 25 June
Four crews remained at the scene overnight and, due to the steady progress being made, that has been scaled down to three crews this morning.
UPDATE 10PM Thursday, 24 June
Four crews will remain at the scene overnight to monitor the fire and dampen it down.
Steady progress is being made to control the fire. Firefighters are working with site staff to remove unaffected product from the barn.
UPDATE 4PM Thursday, 24 June
Firefighters are making good progress at the scene. Four fire engines will remain at the scene into this evening continuing to make the scene safe.
UPDATE 11AM Thursday, 24 June
Firefighters are continuing to make good progress controlling the fire. Crews are working with on-site staff to remove as much unburnt product as possible which is being moved away from the site. Crews are expected to be at the scene for the next few days, until the scene is cooled and safe to leave in the care of the site owners.
UPDATE 7:30AM Thursday, 24 June
Firefighters are making steady progress to extinguish the fire in sections while protecting surrounding buildings.
Crews will work with site staff throughout the day to continue moving unaffected product from the building and resolve this incident.
UPDATE 5AM Thursday, 24 June
Six crews remain at the scene and firefighters are working to extinguish this fire in sections. Crews are making steady progress to extinguish the fire after creating a fire break between the unaffected product.
Crews have established a water source in a nearby lake and are making use of a water bowser (one of our vehicles that can carry large amounts of water) to transport water to the scene.
This will be a protracted incident and crews are working with on-site teams to resolve it as quickly and safely as possible.
UPDATE 3:30AM Thursday, 24 June
Six crews are currently at the scene where approximately 300 tonnes of animal feed is on fire inside an agricultural building.
Three crews had been on scene overnight and requested three additional crews to help set up a water shuttle due to the area being remote.
Crews are working to extinguish the fire in sections to protect the surrounding buildings.
UPDATE 10:30PM
Three relief crews have arrived to take over the scene and will remain at the incident throughout the night to dampen the fire and monitor hotspots.
Crews are continuing to use machinery to remove unaffected product and steady progress is being made to extinguish the fire.
UPDATE 6:30PM:
Three relief crews from Burnham, Wickford and Shoeburyness are currently at the scene continuing to use machinery to take the product out of the building to extinguish the fire in sections.
Firefighters are also using machinery to create a fire break between the unaffected product.
Three crews will remain at the scene throughout the night to continue dampening down the fire.
UPDATE 4PM:
Three crews currently remain at the scene where the fire is under control.
Firefighters are continuing to work with site staff to remove the product from the building and are dampening down the fire.
Two crews will remain at the scene overnight to monitor hotspots and a fire investigation will take place when it is safe to do so.
UPDATE 3PM:
Six crews remain at the scene to extinguish the fire in sections.
Approximately 600 tonnes of animal feed are on fire inside an agricultural building measuring approximately 100 metres by 20 metres.
The building is in the middle of five other buildings containing animal feed. Crews are taking steps to protect the surrounding buildings and are successfully preventing the fire from spreading.
Firefighters have been working with site staff using diggers to remove the product from inside the building and extinguish it outside and will continue to use this method as well as using water to protect the steel structure of the building to keep it safe.
Crews are preparing to put a layer of foam onto the fire to help extinguish it.
Group Manager Martyn Hare said: “The incident will likely carry on into the evening where we hope to scale it back down to two crews.
“Our priority is to protect the buildings and make sure they are structurally safe, make sure the business can still operate as they continue to do so at the moment as they are on site working.
“We’d like to thank the Salvation Army for coming and supplying refreshments for our crews who are working under very high temperatures. We’d also like to thank the business and local farmers who have been really accommodating.”
An investigation will take place to determine the cause of the fire.
Firefighters are currently at the scene of a stack fire in Asheldham.
Initially, two crews from Burnham and Tillingham were called to a stack fire at 2:30am and requested further crews on arrival.
Approximately 600 tonnes of animal feed is alight inside an agricultural building.
Firefighters from Maldon, Burnham, Tillingham and South Woodham Ferrers remained at the scene until 10am until four relief crews could take over the firefighting.
At 10am, the incident commander requested two more fire engines as part of the relief crews and six crews from Burnham, Basildon, Harlow, Leigh, Rochford and Southend as well as the Aerial Ladder Platform from Chelmsford have been at the scene since 10am.
Crews are tackling the fire in sections and steady progress is being made to extinguish the fire while preventing the fire from spreading to other agricultural buildings.
Could you be an on-call firefighter?
Many of the firefighters attending this incident are on-call firefighters who all live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station.
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
