PHOTOS: Embers from incinerator spread to house

Firefighters are advising residents to ensure embers from bonfires and incinerators are fully cooled before leaving them after a fire in Heybridge in the early hours of this morning.

Crews were called to Basin Road, Heybridge at 2:51am and on arrival reported that a garage was 100% alight and the fire had started to spread to the house attached.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 4:28am.

The garage was destroyed and the kitchen in the house was smoke damaged.

Firefighters believe the fire was started by embers from an incinerator.

Crew Manager Nick Trice from Maldon Fire Station said: “If you are planning to have a bonfire or use anything like an incinerator, fire pit or chimnea, please ensure the embers are cooled before leaving it.

“You can use water to help cool the embers. It only takes a slight breeze to carry hot embers and they can quickly cause devastation.”

If you're planning to have an outdoor fire, please follow our safety advice:

• Site the fire well away from houses, garages, sheds, fences, overhead cables, trees and shrubs
• Never leave the fire burning unattended
• Build the stack so that it is stable and will not collapse outwards or to one side
• NEVER use flammable liquids - paraffin or petrol - to light the fire
• Don't burn foam-filled furniture, aerosols, tins of paint and bottles
• Keep everyone away from the fire - especially children, who must be supervised at all times
• Pour water on the embers before leaving

Could you be an on-cal firefighter?

Firefighters from Maldon and Tollesbury fire stations are on-call firefighters - they live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and attend incidents when paged.

If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be paid to protect your community.

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