Smoke alarms alert residents to house fire

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

A family in South Woodham Ferrers had a lucky escape from a house fire today after their smoke alarms woke them up.

Firefighters from South Woodham Ferrers and Wickford were called to a house fire in Anchor Reach, South Woodham Ferrers just after 7:30am.

On arrival, crews reported that a conservatory was heavily smoke logged and extinguished the fire by 8am.

Firefighters believe the fire was caused by batteries that had overheated while on charge.

The conservatory and adjoining garages suffered some smoke damage.

Watch Manager Dave Taylor from South Woodham Ferrers Fire Station said: “This incident really highlights the importance of having working smoke alarms in your home. Had these residents not have had working smoke alarms to alert them to this fire, they would not have been able to call us out as quickly and the outcome would have been very different.”

Do you have working smoke alarms?

We want every home in Essex to have a working smoke alarm on every floor. If you or someone you know doesn’t have working smoke alarms at home, please get in touch so we can see how best to provide fire safety advice, either through a Home Safety Visit or advice over the phone. You can get in touch with us at essex-fire.gov.uk/book

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

South Woodham Ferrers Fire Station and Wickford Fire Station are recruiting on-call firefighters.

On-call firefighters all live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and are paid to protect their community.

If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighter.

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