Crews were called to a property in Cornwall Gardens, Braintree, last night after a tumble dryer caught alight and started a kitchen fire. 

The resident had been woken by her smoke alarm and discovered the fire in her kitchen. 

When firefighters arrived they quickly surrounded the fire and extinguished it by 11.50pm. 

Watch Manager Gary Shinn said:

"This woman's smoke alarms may have saved her life - thankfully they woke her to the first sign of fire which gave her time to get out of her home. 

Give yourself peace of mind this Christmas with working smoke alarms, that’s the message from Southend firefighters after working smoke alarms alerted a woman to a kitchen fire today.

Firefighters were called to a house fire in Bournemouth Park Road in Southend at 3:36pm today.

On arrival, crews reported that there was a fire in the kitchen which was heavily smoke logged.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 3:57pm.

The fire was caused by items near the hob that had caught alight.

Firefighters are highlighting the importance of having working smoke alarms at home after a family was woken up in the night by their smoke alarms during a house fire.

Crews were called to Mill Lane, Ramsden Heath at 3:33am after residents had been woken up by their smoke alarms, got out of the house and called us.

On arrival, crews reported that the ground floor of the house was heavily smoke logged.

Firefighters wearing Breathing Apparatus entered the house and extinguished a fire in the living room by 4:12am.

Firefighters were called to a fire in an industrial building last night.

On arrival, crews reported that a hydraulic motor in a machine was on fire and the building was smoke logged.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 10:06pm.

The cause of the fire was accidental.

Firefighters were called to a flat fire in Heron Way, Harwich this afternoon after an unattended candle caused a flat fire.

On arrival, crews reported that a flat on the third floor was heavily smoke logged.

Crews worked to extinguish a fire in the bedroom by 4:46pm.

Firefighters believe the fire was caused by an unattended candles that caught a canvas alight.

Crew Manager Tom Jewell from Dovercourt Fire Station said: “Please blow candles out if you need to leave the room, even if it’s only for a moment.

Firefighters are warning smokers to take care while smoking inside after a flat fire in Great Baddow this morning left a woman homeless.

Crews were called to Meadgate Avenue in Great Baddow at 2:15am to a flat fire after the resident heard her smoke alarms going off.

On arrival, crews reported that a first floor flat was heavily smoke logged with a fire in the living room.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 2:52am and believe it was started by a discarded cigarette when the resident had fallen asleep while smoking.

The resident has been rendered homeless.

Our crews worked quickly to stop a fire in the open from spreading in Maypole Road, Heybridge, last night.

Residents were advised to keep their windows and doors closed and avoid the area as there was a lot of smoke coming from the one hectare of woodland, bushes and hedgerows which were alight.

Station Manager Howard Midwood said: “Crews did a fantastic job and had the fire surrounded very quickly.

Stand up paddle boarders are being urged to check the local conditions and ensure they know what to do if they run into problems following an incident in Mistley this morning.

Four of our fire and rescue crews and our colleagues from the Coastguard were called to help two paddle boarders who thought they had got stuck in the mud near The Walls. 

With support and advice from the Coastguard they managed to get themselves to the slipway without having to be rescued.

Our technical rescue team put their tree felling expertise to good use on Saturday when they were called to remove a large oak tree which had fallen over.

It was blocking part of a busy junction on Bromley Road, Colchester, and our team from Urban Search and Rescue unit used their specialist training and chainsaws to remove the rotten branches that had fallen into the road, making the area safe for drivers and pedestrians.