Essex crews tackle three large field fires in just one day
At 09:53 BST the service was called to reports that 37 acres (15 hectares) of standing crop was alight in Stifford Clays, Grays. At 15:38 it was called to a seven-acre (three hectares) fire on Amersham Court, Rayleigh, where one outbuilding was damaged. Crews were later called to Conrad Road, Witham, at 17:21, to put out a 74-acre (30 hectares) field fire.
Group manager Marc Diggory said crews in Rayleigh "worked hard to extinguish the fire and stop it from spreading to nearby properties". He confirmed it spread to one outbuilding but no-one was injured.
The recent warm weather had increased the risk of wildfires, the fire service said. It asked that people reduce the risk of further incidents by stubbing out cigarettes and disposing of them properly. It also asked people to avoid lighting campfires or barbecues in the countryside. "If you do, make sure they are fully extinguished before you dispose of them," the service said. "Never leave barbecues or bonfires unattended and discard your rubbish, especially glass bottles, responsibly."
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Four dead in Turkey wildfires as blazes continue across Greece
Four people have died in wildfires in Turkey as firefighters battle to contain blazes across the country and in southern Europe amid sweltering temperatures. More than 3,500 people have been evacuated from the area around Bursa, Turkey's fourth-largest city, while two volunteer firefighters died in hospital after being pulled from an overturned water tanker that was on its way to fight the forest fire, the IHA news agency reported. Another emergency responder was killed at the scene and a firefighter died of a heart attack earlier in the weekend. Some 2,300 firefighters battled the flames and gusty winds on Sunday night as fires spread rapidly, tinting the night sky red. The scene was described as 'an apocalypse' by Orhan Saribal, an opposition politician for the province. 'A forest burning is like someone taking a gun and shooting at our homeland,' said Ibrahim Youmakli, the Turkish minister of agriculture and forestry. Youmakli added that at least 44 separate fires were burning across the country, with 17 blaze-related fatalities having been recorded since late June. Other regions affected include Antalya, Mersin and Kahramanmaras. Yılmaz Tunc, the justice minister, revealed that investigations into possible arson were under way. In Bursa a 30-year-old suspect, Ufuk A, was detained after locals spotted a petrol canister in his vehicle near the fire's origin. In Greece, firefighters continued to battle blazes on five fronts as the authorities issued a new high-risk fire alert for multiple regions, despite managing to contain a spate of wildfires over the weekend. In the Peloponnese area west of Athens, along with the islands of Crete, Evia, Kythira and Euboea, teams remained to handle any potential flare-ups. In one of the most serious incidents, a fire near the village of Drosopigi, close to Athens, burnt down two houses, forcing residents to flee. At least five civilians and six firefighters were taken to hospital for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation. More than 100 firefighters continue to battle the flames. Greece requested emergency support, through the EU Civil Protection mechanism, asking for six firefighting aircraft to join local forces. Teams from Italy and the Czech Republic have assisted. In Chania, Crete, a large fire damaged homes and a church. Crews on the popular tourist destination of Kythira were also fighting a large blaze estimated to have spread around half of the island, according to the deputy mayor Giorgos Komninos. 'Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt,' Komninos told the state-run ERT News channel. • Greece wildfires: is it safe to travel? Elsewhere in Europe, beachgoers on the coast of Sardinia were forced to flee by boat after a nearby wildfire blocked all other escape routes and trapped some 200 cars. Black smoke could be seen rising from the beach in Villasimius in the south of the island. Firefighters were also facing wildfires in Albania, Montenegro and Bulgaria amid unusually high temperatures across the continent. • Wildfires: could this be the worst year on record? Last month fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island, Chios, in the northern Aegean, swept across 11,600 acres. Earlier in July, a wildfire on the island of Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists. Greece's deadliest fire on record killed 104 people outside Athens in 2018. The country's government has repeatedly attributed rising rates of wildfires to climate change.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Europe burns: Tourists flee inferno bearing down on Italian beach while flames rip through Greek holiday islands and Turkey faces wildfire 'apocalypse' amid record 50.5C heatwave
Europe is being ravaged by a wave of wildfires and blistering heat as a dangerous combination of high winds, drought, and soaring temperatures triggers mass evacuations. Throughout July, there have been scenes of scorched landscapes and sheer panic from Greece to Turkey and Italy. Terrified beachgoers were seen fleeing by boat from beaches in Italy's Sardinia Island as fires surged inland. Dramatic scenes unfolded on July 27 at Villasimius in southern Sardinia, where flames tore down towards the shoreline, trapping dozens of beachgoers. With roads cut off, tourists were rescued by boat, while many cars were engulfed in flames behind them. According to officials, strong winds were hindering rescue operations as people scrambled to get on the boats. Meanwhile, in Turkey, temperatures hit a national record of 50°C, fanning flames that have already killed dozens of people and forced tens of thousands of residents to run for their lives. Officials fighting to keep the fires under control have called the situation 'apocalyptic'. In Greece, hundreds of firefighters are battling out-of-control infernos stretching from Crete to Evia and the Peloponnese, as locals and holidaymakers are ordered to abandon homes and hotels under choking clouds of smoke. This month, a massive blaze erupted near Ierapetra, Crete, with walls of fire tearing through dry brush and hillside communities. With some fires still active, the UK's Foreign Office has issued a travel advisory to the popular holiday destination. More than 1,500 people were officially evacuated, though reports suggest up to 5,000 tourists left on their own as flames crept dangerously close to coastal resorts Fires are also raging on the mainland, with Evia, Kythera, Attica and the Peloponnese all on red alert. Authorities described the situation as a 'titanic battle', with reinforcements called in from EU partners to try and contain the devastation. As flames spread through southern Turkey, the country registered its highest-ever temperature on July 25, with the town of Silopi in Şırnak Province hitting a blistering 50.5C, breaking the previous record of 49.1C set in 2021. The unprecedented heat has turned huge swathes of countryside into a tinderbox, sparking dozens of wildfires in İzmir, Hatay, Bursa, Karabuk, Eskişehir and beyond. In İzmir Province, more than 50,000 residents were forced to flee 41 settlements in late June after firestorms engulfed entire villages. The flames later reached Dörtyol in Hatay, triggering the evacuation of another 2,000 people. Tragically, at least 17 people have been confirmed dead, including volunteer firefighters, civilian responders, and locals overwhelmed by the flames in Eskişehir, Bursa, and Karabuk. In Bursa alone, nearly 1,800 residents were displaced as 1,900 emergency crews scrambled to contain several active fires. Footage shared online shows thick black smoke blanketing motorways and panicked families loading belongings into cars as embers fall from the sky. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X: 'We remain on alert day and night with 27 aircraft, 105 helicopters, nearly 6,000 ground vehicles, 25,000 heroic forestry personnel, and 132,000 volunteers.' Meanwhile, the country's agriculture and forestry minister said: 'We are going through high-risk days' and warned that the crisis may not be over until October. The three nations are not the only European countries battling wildfires this summer. Cyprus, Spain, Albania, and Montenegro have all contended with huge blazes in the last month. In Cyprus, a fiery blaze last week left thousands of people displaced. An elderly couple escaping the fires in their car were trapped inside and burned alive. A couple told Mail Online how they rushed to escape the flames with seconds to spare and returned to find their dream villa burned to the ground. Albania firefighters are also facing dozens of fire fronts due to a combination of the heatwave and suspected arson. On Friday, around 2,000 residents in Delvina were forced to leave their homes. Several homes have been damaged, and many forestlands have been left charred. In Bulgaria, as a result of high temperatures, 11 regions have been put on red alert as the country fights to contain over 230 fire fronts. In Kosovo, officials have been able to put out 17 fires that were fuelled by strong winds. However, 12 remain active. Eight cows were killed on a farm in Prizren when a fire broke out, according to firefighters. A separate fire in another region also killed 40 sheep. In France, a fast‑moving wildfire near Marseille on 8 July 2025 injured approximately 100 people. It destroyed around 10 homes and prompted the evacuation of roughly 400 residents, while Marseille-Provence Airport suspended all flights temporarily. The blaze scorched about 350 hectares in the Les Pennes‑Mirabeau area, forcing shutdowns of highways, rail services and tunnels into and out of the city.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
2 volunteers die fighting Turkey wildfires, raising deaths to 17 since late June
The death toll from wildfires outside the city of Bursa in northwest Turkey rose to four late Sunday after two volunteer firefighters died. The pair died in hospital after they were pulled from a water tanker that rolled while heading to a forest fire, news agency IHA reported. Another worker died earlier at the scene of the accident and a firefighter died Sunday after suffering a heart attack. Their deaths raised Turkey's wildfire fatalities to 17 since late June, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir, western Turkey. Huge fires around Bursa, Turkey's fourth-largest city, broke out over the weekend, leading to more than 3,500 people fleeing their homes. On Monday morning, fog-like smoke from ongoing fires and smouldering foliage hung over the city. Unseasonably high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds have been fueling the wildfires, with Turkey and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean experiencing record-breaking heatwaves. The fires around Bursa were among hundreds to have hit Turkey over the past month. While firefighting teams have contained the damage to a limited number of homes, vast tracts of forest have been turned to ash. The water tanker crew comprised volunteers from nearby Bolu province heading to the village of Aglasan, northeast of Bursa, to combat a blaze when the vehicle fell into a ditch while negotiating a rough forest track, IHA reported. Turkey battled at least 44 separate fires Sunday, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said late Sunday. He identified two fires in Bursa province, as well as blazes in Karabuk, northwest Turkey, and Kahramanmaras in the south, as the most serious. The government declared disaster areas in two western provinces, Izmir and Bilecik. Prosecutions have been launched against 97 people in 33 of Turkey's 81 provinces in relation to the fires, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said. A crowd of people gathered Sunday evening outside a police station in the village of Harmancik, 57 kilometers (35 miles) south of Bursa, after learning a suspected arsonist was detained there. The angry crowd demanded for the suspect to be handed over to them. The crowd dispersed after police assured them a thorough investigation would be undertaken.
