700 cars alight

Firefighters were called to the scene of a huge fire involved approx. 700 cars at a salvage car auction yard in Rochford.

Update 10:45pm - There's currently around 60 firefighters at the scene tacking the fire. Nearby residents are being advised to close their windows.

The cars are stacked in rows of three storeys. Firefighters have the fire contained and have created a fire break to stop the fire spreading to the remaining cars. There is approximately 2000 cars at the site.

Group Manager Justin Benson Ryal said: "The cars were stacked in rows and the fire was jumping from row to row. So we got ahead of the fire and create what we call a "fire break". We got eight water hoses on the last row so the fire couldn't spread any further. This helped us extinguish the fire much quicker and stopped the fire spreading any further.

Update 7am Saturday 12 Aug - Two fire crews have been working throughout the night to dampen down and make the scene safe. Crews will be on scene until the whole affected area are completely cooled.

Update 11am Saturday 12 Aug - The scene is fully cooled and firefighters are packing up ready to return to their stations. 

Update Monday 14 Aug - A thorough fire investigation was carried out, but unfortunately the cause of the fire is not unknown.