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Tilbury scrap yard blaze tackled by firefighters

Essex Fire & Rescue Service Scrap yard fire aftermath, TilburyEssex Fire & Rescue Service
Crews from Rayleigh Weir, Grays, Basildon and Orsett arrived at the scrap yard to find the fire affecting a 40ft (12m) container

Firefighters have tackled a blaze at a scrap yard which stored fridges for recycling, bikes and plastics.

Essex Fire and Rescue were called to Dock Road, Tilbury, at about 14:30 BST on Sunday and crews were able to fully extinguish the fire by 19:30 BST.

Crews were also called to a tractor fire which set one acre (4,046 sq m) of crop alight at Hall Green Lane, Hutton at about 15:15 BST.

It was put out with the help of a farmer who created a fire break.

Essex Fire and Rescue said an investigation was under way into the cause of the blaze at the scrap yard, which had a number of cylinders on site.

Essex Fire & Rescue Service Tractor and field fire Green Lane, HuttonEssex Fire & Rescue Service
While crews from Chelmsford, Romford and Brentwood tackled the tractor and crop fire at Hutton

The fire service has also urged people to make sure their smoke alarms are working after a flat fire at about 11.45 BST, also on Sunday.

Firefighters were called after smoke was spotted coming from a first floor window in Grays.

They found the flat full of smoke and the hob alight.

Crew manager Kris Mortimer said: "The occupant had put some food on the hob, but then left it unattended and had fallen asleep.

"It is very lucky someone spotted the smoke and called 999 as the property did not have any working smoke alarms."

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