Industrial building fire

Update at 9pm on Sunday 7 September

Crews have left the scene.

Update at 5pm on Saturday 6 September

We are still on the scene of the fire in Eastways, Witham. 

Area Manager Dave Bond said: "We are supporting the business that was affected by this fire and appreciate the impact that it has had on them and the community. The work of our teams prevented the fire from spreading further and impacting other premises and nearby properties.

"The cause of the fire is accidental. We’ll remain on scene for some time, dealing with hotspots and there may still be visible smoke for the next day or so."

Many of the crews that attended this fire are on-call firefighters. If you think you could help keep your community safe and live within 5 minutes of a fire station, you could join us. Search ‘Join Essex Fire’ to find out more.

Three crews are now at the scene from Basildon, Halstead and Weeley Fire Stations.

Update at 1.30pm on Saturday 6 September

Four crews remain at the scene. Crews from Basildon, Harlow, Orsett and Southend have replaced the crews that were there this morning. The aerial ladder platform has now left the incident.

A fire investigation has taken place and the cause is believed to be accidental.

There is still smoke in the area so we continue to advise the public to avoid the area if they can and keep windows and doors closed.

Thanks to the Salvation Army who have also been providing support to our crews whilst they deal with this incident.

Update at 8am on Saturday 6 September

Firefighters have been at the scene overnight and the fire is now out, although four crews plus an aerial ladder platform remain on site to monitor for hotspots.

Station Manager Jon Ford said: “We are likely to be here for most of the day but we have reopened the road so people can access the businesses. I would ask that anyone coming onto the estate should drive slowly and be aware that we are working in the area when they are using the road. The smoke is clearing but we’d ask that people nearby should still keep their windows and doors closed.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire will take place when it is safe to do so.

The four crews on scene this morning are from Coggeshall, Great Dunmow, Sible Hedingham and West Mersea Fire Stations.

We'd also like to say a huge thanks to Community Foods Limited who have kindly supported our crews with refreshments, facilities and office space.

Update at 10pm:

We are now scaling back the incident from 12 appliances at the scene to six, plus two aerial ladder platforms. 

Group Manager Ben Turner said: "We will be here overnight and carry on tomorrow morning in the daylight. Thank you to the public for their support and patience, our partners who have been working with us and the neighbouring businesses on the industrial estate who have offered their facilities to our firefighters.

"Crews have worked incredibly hard this evening as well as our control room colleagues who have been dealing with a large number of calls."

Update at 8.30pm:

Incident commander Group Manager Ben Turner said: "The fire has affected two premises, we have approx 90 firefighters dealing with the incident and it is generating a lot of smoke. There's a railway line that runs nearby and we are making sure that we are protecting the surrounding risk and working with our partner agencies to keep our community safe.

"We anticipate being here throughout the night and when it is safe to do so we will carry out a fire investigation with the police to make sure we understand the cause of the fire."

Update at 6.45pm:

This is a fire in an industrial building measuring 80 metres by 50 metres. Our firefighters have surrounded the fire and we are being supported at the scene by UK Power Networks.

The building is on an industrial estate and because we have multiple crews and equipment at the scene, Eastways is closed. 

Thanks to everyone for their patience and support whilst we deal with this incident. There is a lot of smoke so please do keep windows and doors closed if you are nearby.

Crews are dealing with a fire at an industrial building in Eastways, Witham.

We were called at 4.42pm and have multiple crews in attendance. We'll be at the scene well into the evening.

Please avoid the area if you can and keep your doors and windows closed if you live nearby.