Essex County Fire and Rescue Service offers a 24/7 service to the press. Our incident database is updated on a regular basis by the media team and we have established a hotline - 01376 570 814 - where you will be able to reach us round-the-clock. We do ask that routine check calls are not made between 10pm and 6am, because all items of interest will be posted here as they happen. Please note this is NOT a service for the public and press from outside our local area are asked politely to adhere to these guidelines.
Photographs from incidents may be downloaded for publication. These may be used free of charge by all accredited newspapers and media agencies providing they carry a credit to Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Breaches of this arrangement will result in an invoice of £70 per image. Our film footage may also be used under similar arrangement.
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Details/ImagesIncident No: 7581
Date: 18-04-2010
Time: 02:43
Details: Crews find runaway bus
Address: Fourth Avenue, Harlow
Attendance: 2 x Harlow
Firefighters returning to their station following a multi-agency exercise in the Bell Common Tunnel ont he M25 alerted Police after they came across a runaway bus which had crashed into a central reservation.
It appears the parked vehicle had been left with its handbrake off and strayed across the road. There was no sign of casualties, so firefighters alerted Police and left the vehicle in their care.
No action was needed by Fire Service crews, who left the scene at 02:59 hrs.
We have no further information. -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 7580
Date: 18-04-2010
Time: 02:39
Details: Car fire close to property
Address: Church Lane, Loughton
Attendance: 2 x Loughton
Crews were called to tackle a fire involving a car parked close to a gated house. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used one hose reel to tackle flames and managed to prevent spread from the vehicle.
The incident was dealt with by 03:13 hrs. -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 7565
Date: 17-04-2010
Time: 22:00
Details: House fire
Address: Victoria Street, Braintree
Attendance: 2 x Braintree
A tumble dryer is believed to have been the cause of a fire in a semi-detached house in Braintree.
When crews arrived at the scenem they reported that 20 per cent of the two-storey property, measuring 10m x 10m, was well alight and that the remainder of the house was heavily smoke logged.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reels and a covering jet to fight the fire, It was extinguished by 22:25 hrs when crews began ventilating the house using a high pressure fan.
The incident was dealt with by 22:41 hrs. The occupiers of the house were present at the time of the fire but uninjured. -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 0000
Date: 17-04-2010
Time: 21:20
Details: No major incidents - M25 closure
Address: Update 21:20 hrs Saturday
There have been no major incidents of press interest this evening. Please continue to check the website, which is updated regularly.
Road users are advised the M25 will be closed between junctions 25 and 27 - Enfield and Epping - between 10pm on Saturday 17 April and 5am on Sunday 18 April. This is an exercise for safety testing within the Bell Common Tunnel and familiarisation for the emergency services.
During the closure, drivers travelling clockwise will be diverted off the M25 at junction 23 - correct - to the A1, the eastbound A406 North Circular Road to the northbound M11, rejoining the M25 at junction 27.
Anti-clockwise traffic will be diverted to leave the M25 at junction 27 and follow the southbound M11 to the westbound A406 North Circular Road, and the northbound A10 to rejoin the M25 at junction 25.
Both diversions will be fully-signed.
The Highways Agency advises drivers to allow more time for their journeys during the closure -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 7517
Date: 17-04-2010
Time: 14:21
Details: Bungalow fire
Address: Old London Road, Marks Tey
Attendance: 2 x Colchester
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reels to tackle a fire in a bungalow and range of wooden outbuildings.
The incident was dealt with swiftly by 14:59 hrs.
A joint Police and Fire Service investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the incident.
We have no further information. -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 7449
Date: 16-04-2010
Time: 16:50
Details: Road traffic collision - one trapped
Address: Lawlinge Road, junction Steeple Road, Latchingdon
Attendance: 1 x South Woodham, 1 x Maldon, 1 x Southend
Crews are using specialist cutting equipment to free a casualty trapped int heir vehicle following a three-vehicle road traffic collision.
At 17:11 hrs, firefighters report that efforts are being made to free the casualty and that they are working alongside Ambulance Service paramedics, who called for their assistance at the scene.
We have no further information. -
Details/ImagesIncident No: 7385
Date: 15-04-2010
Time: 17:35
Details: Shed fire
Address: Braemar Avenue, Chelmsford
Attendance: 2 x Chelmsford
Firefighters tackled a fire involving three sheds. A shed was destroyed by the fire and a nearby out building suffered smoke damage.
The fire was extinguished by 18:14hrs. Crews wore two sets of breathing apparatus and used one hose reel jet.
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Details/ImagesIncident No: 7367
Date: 15-04-2010
Time: 14:15
Details: Cat stuck in tree
Address: Byron Road, Hutton, Brentwood
Attendance: 1 x Brentwood
Firefighters used a hose reel jet to help a cat down after it became stuck in a tree.
Crews had freed the cat by 15:42hrs leaving it in its owner's care.
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Details/ImagesIncident No: 7375
Date: 15-04-2010
Time: 15:03
Details: RTC - woman requires ambulance
Address: A13, Orsett
Attendance: 2 x Orsett, 2 x Grays
Firefighters gave heavily pregnant woman first aid and made her vehicle safe following an RTC this afternoon. The woman was not trapped but an ambulance was called because she was suffering from shock.
Fire crews left the scene at 15:45hrs.
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Details/ImagesIncident No: 7149
Date: 13-04-2010
Time: 01:18
Details: Road traffic collision
Address: Winter Folly, Basildon
Attendance: 2 x Basildon, 1 x Grays
Firefighters released one casualty from a car after it was involved in a collision with a lamppost in the early hours today. One person had been released before crews arrived while a second was trapped.
Using two sets of hydraulic cutting equipment crews had released the casualty by 02:04hrs.
