UPDATE 4PM

The fire was fully extinguished shortly before 3pm.

An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause.

Crews are tackling a warehouse fire on the Essex/Hertfordshire border.

Firefighters were called to a house in Benfleet this afternoon after a passer-by noticed smoke coming from a window.

On arrival, crews found a significant fire on the ground floor of the property. The entire house was filled with smoke, which had also started spreading to the neighbouring home.

Firefighters acted quickly to bring the fire under control and ventilate both properties, preventing further damage.

Station Manager Russ Freeman said:

Firefighters were called to a ground floor maisonette in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday 14 January) after neighbours heard a smoke alarm going off.

On arrival firefighters reported a fire in a bedroom.

Sadly a woman died at the scene.

Following a fire investigation the cause of the fire has been recorded as accidental.

Crews are urging people to remove mirrors, glass and crystal objects from window sills after the second time this week sunlight reflecting off these objects has caused a fire. 

Firefighters from Orsett and Grays were called to Brennan Road, Tilbury this afternoon. 

A resident heard their smoke alarms sounding and discovered a fire in their bedroom. 

When firefighters entered the property, they found the curtains on fire in the bedroom which had been caused by sunlight reflecting off a decorative glass globe on the window sill.

Crews have issued safety advice after a fire was caused by sunlight reflecting off a magnifying glass.

Firefighters from Newport were called to Brick Kiln Lane, Rickling Green this afternoon. 

The occupants had returned home and heard their smoke alarm sounding and called 999 immediately. 

When crews entered the property, they found the curtains on fire in the bedroom which had been caused by sunlight reflecting off a magnifying glass on the bedside table. 

Crews have urged residents to make sure they have a working smoke alarm on every level of their home after a fire in Langdon Hills.

We were called to a semi-detached house Acorn Place today (Sunday 5 January) at 6.14am and two crews from Basildon attended.

Watch Manager Rob Fossett said: "The occupant was woken by a loud bang and discovered a well-developed fire on the first floor. She grabbed her two cats, got out and called 999.

A fire investigation found that the cause of the fire was an extractor fan. 

Crews were called to a fire in a roof space of a pub in Harlow. 

Firefighters were called to the building at 9.30pm tonight (26 December). On arrival firefighters reported the fire was impacting the first floor and around 30% of the roof was alight and, due to the size of the building, requested support of more crews and Chelmsford's aerial ladder platform.

At 10.15pm the incident commander reported that firefighters were tackling the fire in sections. 

Crews were called to an end terrace house in Harwich earlier this morning after a neighbour spotted smoke coming from the property. 

On arrival firefighters reported there was a fire in a bedroom and the house was filling up with smoke. 

Firefighters quickly tackled the fire and then cleared the property of smoke. 

Officers believe a phone charger started the fire. 

Station Manager Karl Amos said:

Update Monday 23 December 

The cause of the fire was recorded as undetermined. 

Crews have extinguished a fire involving multiple caravans.

Harlow's crew was called to the incident in Roydon yesterday evening (20 December) after reports of a shed on fire. On arrival the crew was faced with a much larger incident than expected, with two caravans and several fence panels alight. The fire quickly spread to additional caravans.

Due to the size of the fire, additional support was requested from Essex and Hertfordshire crews.