Crews have issued safety advice after hot embers started a garden fire.

Firefighters were called to Orchard Place, Clacton today at 11.35am and found a fire had spread to three gardens, with trees, hedges and fences alight.

The Clacton crew quickly stopped the fire from spreading to nearby properties, including a large outbuilding.

Crew Manager Andy Anderson said: "The fire was well-developed and spreading quickly in the dry, breezy conditions.

"It was only the hard work from crews that prevented it from causing more damage.

Firefighters were called to a roof fire in Standford-le-Hope earlier today.

The residents were alerted to the fire after their neighbours spotted smoke coming from the roof. The occupants then immediately made their way out of the house and called us.

On arrival, crews reported that the roof of a bungalow was on fire and smoke logged.

Crews extinguished the fire by 4:43pm. The cause of the fire was accidental

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Basildon firefighters rescued a cat that was trapped within a wall in the early hours of this morning.

The curious cat had found a hole and crawled inside but was unable to make its way out.

Crews cut the wall to rescue the cat, which was unharmed and left in the care of its owner by 3:13am.

Update 8pm:

Crews worked throughout the day to create a fire break to allow the fire burn under control and left the scene in the care of the farmer at 7:39pm.

Update 1:30pm:

Firefighters remain at the scene to monitor the bales burning in a controlled burn. One crew has remained at the scene throughout the night and today with a relief crew being brought in every four hours. 

Firefighters have spent the night at a stack fire in Woodham Walter. 

Firefighters were called to a flat fire in Colchester last night after a neighbour heard smoke alarms going off and called the Fire Service.

On arrival, two crews from Colchester reported that the kitchen in a first floor flat was smoke logged.

Crews extinguished the fire by 10:22pm and believe it was caused by cooking left unattended on a hob.

More than half of accidental fires at home are started by cooking - follow our cooking safety advice to stay safe in your kitchen:

Update 3pm:

An investigation into the cause of the fire is on-going.

Update 7:30am

Crews worked throughout the night to monitor hotspots within the roof and first floor and left the scene at 7:09am.

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

Update 1am:

Crews have almost extinguished the fire and the incident has been scaled down to two fire crews and an Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP). Firefighters will remain at the scene to monitor hotspots. 

Wickford firefighters helped to clear a flooded road after a water main burst in Bicknacre last night.

The crew had been making their way back to Wickford Fire Station after supporting colleagues at another incident when they spotted the water on the road.

A water main had burst and was beginning to affect two properties.

Firefighters worked to divert the water away from the houses and left the scene in the care of the water board at 9:25pm.

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UPDATED TODAY 6PM

Crews worked to make the scene safe by 5:19pm and left the incident in the care of police and highways colleagues.

UPDATED TODAY 3.35PM

Two crews are at the scene of a road traffic collision at the A12/A130 Howe Green interchange.

A lorry containing scaffolding poles is on its side and is blocking part of the carriageway.

Traffic is able to move past the scene safely but please continue to avoid the area if you can.

Over the weekend, on-call firefighters from Great Dunmow helped to save more than 30 fish in a local pond.

The crew was called by the Environment Agency to aerate a pond in Star Lane, Great Dunmow at 12pm on Saturday after 35 fish had been killed in the water due to low dissolved oxygen levels.

Crews used main jets to aerate the pond and left the scene in the care of the Environment Agency.

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Crews were called to a block of flats after reports of a fire on the ground floor.

On arrival firefighters confirmed the fire was contained to one ground floor flat, which they safely evacuated, and issued a message for all other flats to stay put in their properties. 

Crews confirmed they had extinguished the fire by 2am.

Group Manager Mark Eaglestone said:

"Our crews acted quickly to control the fire while we implemented the building's stay put policy.