Weed burner causes shed fire

Firefighters gave first aid to a man with burns to his back and legs in Maldon today after a weed burner set a shed alight.

Crews from Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers were called to Gloucester Avenue in Maldon at 2:36pm.

On arrival, crews reported that a man had burns to his back and legs and immediately began to give him first aid while waiting for the Ambulance Service to arrive.

The shed, measuring approximately 6 metres by 4 metres, was on fire and firefighters extinguished it by 3:25pm.

The man was left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

Watch Manager Martin Cable from Maldon Fire Station said: “Crews acted quickly to treat the man’s burns while we waited for our colleagues in the Ambulance Service. I’d like to praise the man’s neighbour who spotted the smoke and acted quickly to rescue the man from the scene and reassure him until we arrived alongside the Ambulance Service.

“While everything is dry at the moment with the hot weather we’ve been having, we don’t recommend you use anything like a weed burner with a naked flame or have a bonfire. It only takes a few embers to start a fire in this dry weather."

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

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

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