PICTURES: Fire in a former care home

Around 30 firefighters attended a fire at a former care home in Connaught Avenue, Frinton-on-Sea this evening.

Crews were called to the single-storey building at 4.48pm and found a fire in the roof. There were concerns there may have been people inside following reports from local residents but our firefighters searched the building and found it to be empty. Around 40 percent of the 30 metre by 10 metre building has been destroyed.

Station Manager Nick Singleton said: “Our crews did a sterling job to stop the fire from spreading to the whole building, working in arduous conditions. Two crews will remain at the scene this evening to continue dampening it down.”

The cause of the fire is thought to be deliberate.

We typically see an increase in deliberate fires during summer months and we’re urging Essex residents to use FireStoppers to report information that could prevent a fire from occurring. 

Managed by CrimeStoppers, FireStoppers is an anonymous way to report what you know about deliberate fire setting in your area. It’s not for reporting any blame, it’s for us to prevent the fires from happening.

You can call FireStoppers on 0800 169 5558 or report online.