Dovercourt firefighters rescued a dog and a lizard during a flat fire in Harwich yesterday.

Firefighters were called to a flat fire in High Street, Harwich yesterday afternoon at 3pm.

On arrival, crews reported that a flat above a row of businesses was 100% smoke logged and the smoke alarms were going off.

Firefighters wearing Breathing Apparatus entered the property and found the hob was on fire.

Crews rescued a dog and a lizard from the flat.

The dog, a Lurcher, was given oxygen therapy by firefighters and left in the care of a vet.

UPDATE 1.10pm

Crews freed the driver shortly before midday and left him in the care of the Ambulance Service.

Our Control team has been liaising with environmental authorities with regards to a fuel leak, which firefighters managed to contain. 

Firefighters have now left the scene with Essex Police and National Highways. Police have urged motorists to avoid area because the road will remain closed for some time.

Crews were called to a fire in a yard on London Road, Southend, in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday). 

At 2.45am the incident commander reported two tonnes of tyres and a number of vehicles were on fire. 

Incident Commander David Gomez said:

"Our crews did a fantastic job of surrounding the fire and stopping it from spreading to nearby buildings. 

"It was thanks to their hard work and skill that we managed to quickly bring it under control and extinguish it within 90 minutes."

Crews were called to Hyde Lane, Chelmsford, after a driver lost control and crashed his car.

All three emergency services were called to the scene and firefighters from Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers worked to stabilise the car and make the area safe. 

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

Firefighters were called to reports of a fire in a bungalow in Langdon Hills, near Basildon, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Crews confirmed on arrival that the bungalow, which measures approximately 20 metres by 10 metres, was around 25% alight.

Firefighters managed to get the fire under control by 5am.

Because the property had working smoke alarms, everyone inside at the time got out safely - no-one was harmed.

Firefighters are giving electrical safety advice after an overloaded plug socket caught a bedroom alight in Basildon.

Crews were called to a bedroom fire in Ghyllgrove, Basildon at 12:09pm.

On arrival, firefighters reported that the top floor of a three storey house was heavily smoke-logged.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 12:51pm.

The top floor of the house was heavily fire and smoke damaged.

Sadly, a dog died at the scene.

Firefighters were involved in a road traffic collision while travelling to an emergency call in Brentwood on Friday evening. 

The incident occurred on London Road, Brentwood and involved one other vehicle. One person was freed from the vehicle and suffered minor injuries. None of our firefighters were injured. 

Scott Meekings, Group Manager at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This was clearly an unfortunate incident, which happened when a crew from Brentwood Fire Station were heading to an emergency call. 

Firefighters were called to the scene of a serious road traffic collision in London Road, Purfleet on Friday afternoon.

On arrival, crews confirmed that one heavy goods vehicle had left the roadway and collided with nearby properties.

No other vehicles were involved. The incident occurred on the area of London Road close to Purfleet station.

After making the scene safe, firefighters left the scene at 5.20pm.

Please avoid the area and take an alternative route if you are travelling nearby - the road is likely to be closed for some time.