Cooking fire wakes Hostel in early hours
Firefighters were called to a fire in Westcliff-On-Sea at 2:38am, when smoke alarms sounded, alerting everyone in a hostel to a fire in the kitchen.
On arrival, crews confirmed that there was a fire in a kitchen area, which was caused by a saucepan that had been left on the hob unattended. The area was heavily smoke-logged and the sprinkler system had activated.
Firefighters from Southend worked to extinguish the fire and ventilate the building by 3:30am. Crews also assisted to clean up water damage caused by the sprinkler system before leaving the scene.