Update 1pm (6 January):

The cause of the fire has been recorded as deliberate.

Update 4.20pm (3 January):

Crews have left the scene in the care of the site owners.

Update 3pm (2 January):

The fire has been extinguished. A crew will keep a watching brief, on a rolling basis, until tomorrow morning, at which point we plan to leave to site.

An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the fire.

Update 12.30pm (2 January):

Firefighters were called to a house fire in Howbridge Road, Witham after the resident heard her smoke alarms going off.

On arrival, crews reported that a bungalow was heavily smoke logged.

Crews extinguished the fire by 8:35pm.

The bungalow was destroyed leaving a family homeless.

A woman was left in the care of the Ambulance Service due to smoke inhalation.

The fire was caused by an electrical fault in a tumble dryer.

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

Firefighters were called to a barn fire in Navestock in the early hours of this morning after we received several calls from drivers who could see the flames from the M25.

Crews were called to a barn fire in Albyns Lane, Navestock at 3am.

On arrival, crews were met with a large fire measuring approximately 20 metres by 40 metres and requested the use of a Water Bowser - a specialist vehicle used to carry large amounts of water - from Corringham Fire Station.

Firefighters rescued a horse from a river in Grays this morning.

The horse had slipped on an icy verge and fell into a river.

Our Animal Rescue Unit from Chelmsford waded into the waist height water and guided the horse to the verge where crews and its owner lifted it to safety.

The horse was left in the care of its owner.

Firefighters were called to a fire in Epping at 1:37pm today, when a machine caught fire in an industrial building.

On arrival, crews confirmed that a wood-milling machine had caught fire, and that the fire was almost out.

Firefighters worked quickly to ensure the fire was properly extinguished, then used thermal-imaging cameras to check that no further action was needed.

Crews confirmed the fire was out by 2:15pm.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters were called to a house fire in East Mersea just after midnight after the residents were woken up by their smoke alarms.

On arrival, crews reported that a two-storey timber framed house was on fire and heavily smoke logged.

The fire was starting to spread to a 1,800 litre heating oil tank and crews worked to prevent the fire spreading further.

Firefighters extinguished the fire by 1:56am.

An investigation into the cause of the fire will take place today.

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

Firefighters were called a car fire in Colchester in the early hours of this morning which spread to a caravan and a house.

Crews were called to a car fire on a driveway in Gilderdale Close, Colchester where the fire had spread to a caravan and was beginning to spread to a house.

Both the car and the caravan - which contained gas cylinders - were 100% alight.

Crews worked to prevent the fire spreading to the house.

Crews extinguished the fire by 2:39am and worked to cool the cylinders.

An investigation into the cause of the fire will take place today.

Firefighters were called to a vehicle fire in the early hours of this morning at Tilbury Docks.

On arrival, crews reported that a horizontal grinder was on fire.

Crews worked to remove inspection panels and extinguished the fire by 4:44am.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters at Corringham Fire Station are on-call firefighters, who live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and are paid to attend incidents in their community.

A cat has been rescued from a flat after a candle started fire in a bedroom. 

Crews were called to the second floor flat in Lyndhurst Road, Corringham, this morning after a man heard his smoke alarm going off and called 999. 

On arrival firefighters reported that there was a fire in the bedroom. 

UPDATE: 10:41am

Crews have now left the scene of the incident, after assisting British Transport Police and Greater Anglia in safely transferring 55 passengers onto a replacement train.

Dave Bond, Station Manager at Waltham Abbey, said: “All agencies worked well together to minimise delays for all passengers involved.

The road is likely to remain closed for most of the day whilst an investigation takes place, so we’re urging people to avoid the area where possible.”