Firefighters have issued advice to residents after being called to a chimney fire at a house in Hartington Road, Southend, today.

Fortunately, the fire was extinguished quickly and nobody was harmed.

The latest statistics show that there are approximately 7,000 chimney fires a year in England, but most of these can be prevented.

Crew Manager Adam Paterson said: "To keep yourself and your family safe from fire you should have your chimney swept regularly – at least once a year.”

Our safety advice:

Our teams have had a busy day again today as we support Essex residents and businesses during the bad weather.

Crews have attended many incidents across the county. They have made dangerous structures and fallen electrical cables safe, dealt with trees and debris which have damaged properties and blocked roads as well as providing advice to our partner agencies and members of the public.

Firefighters were called to a fire at a bungalow in Hadleigh last night.

When crews arrived they found the fire had started in the adjoining garage but had spread to the roof space of the bungalow. They worked hard to stop it spreading to the property next door, extinguishing it by 9.51pm.

Nobody was in the property at the time. The cause has been recorded as accidental.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are again responding to a large number of incidents today as strong winds continue to hit the county.

The majority of the calls relate to dangerous structures and our crews will attend these when the damage could cause a threat to life or injury.

Braintree firefighters rescued a cat from a drain pipe in Great Notley earlier today.

Crews were called to Notley Green at 12:24pm to rescue the cat after it had ran into an underground drain pipe and was trapped.

Working alongside colleagues in the RSPCA, firefighters used chimney rods and a shovel to gain access to where the cat was trapped.

The cat was rescued by 2:09pm and left in the care of the RSPCA.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters have issued safety advice after they attended a property following a fire caused by a faulty battery.

Crews from Braintree and Halstead were called to a property in Hawkwood Road, Sible Hedingham this morning to carry out an inspection, after a battery was left charging overnight and caused a fire.

On arrival, Firefighters reported that there was damage in the kitchen, where the battery had exploded. Crews conducted a full investigation, to make sure the fire was completely out and could not re-ignite.

Crews have issued safety advice after an electric scooter caught fire in a communal area of a four-storey block of flats.

Firefighters were called to Dads Woods, Harlow today at 8.05am.

A resident had found an e-scooter on fire and called 999 before taking the scooter outside. Firefighters made sure the fire was completely extinguished, using buckets of water.

Watch Manager Ross Daynes said: "This incident shows the dangers of keeping your e-scooter inside. 

Firefighters were called to a road traffic collision on the M25 at Waltham Abbey between junctions 26 and 27.

On arrival, crews reported that a van and a lorry had collided and a man was trapped in his vehicle.

Firefighters rescued the man by 5:53am and he was left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters from Waltham Abbey Fire Station are on-call firefighters, who all live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and attend incidents.

Firefighters have given safety advice after an outdoor plug socket caught fire in a garden in Colchester yesterday.

Crews were called to a house in Redwood Close in Colchester at 5:14pm and found a fire in the garden.

Crews extinguished the fire by 5:36pm.

Firefighters believe the fire was caused by an outdoor socket that had been affected by water.

Update 4pm

An investigation into the cause of the fire found it started accidentally.      

 Firefighters rescued a man during a bungalow fire in Basildon last night.

We received a call from a neighbour who had seen smoke and heard smoke alarms going off at the bungalow.