EMBERS from a fire pit have been blamed for sparking a huge blaze which has left a person homeless.

The fire is understood to have first started in a garden in the early hours of the morning before spreading to fence panels and the roof of a house.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 3.32am this morning to find the fire was affecting another two homes.

An aerial ladder platform from Grays was called to help crews tackle the blaze, which was in East View, Writtle.

Gazette:

Firefighters isolated the power supply to the properties with UK Power Networks while they used the ALP to inspect the roof spaces.

The teams extinguished the fire and made the scene safe by 7:30am.

But they were unable to save one of the properties which was so badly damaged it has left the occupier homeless.

Firefighters suspect the fire was caused by embers from a fire pit.

Station Manager Mark Elliott said: “We’d like to thank our control room for their swift response to this incident and getting the right crews and equipment to help us extinguish this fire.

Gazette:

"Firefighters worked quickly to gain access to adjacent properties to prevent the fire spreading any further other than those already affected on arrival.

"Working with partners from UK Power Networks and Cadent Gas, crews were able to make the scene safe.

"We would like to thank the local residents for their patience while we carried out firefighting operations as a number of properties had their power isolated.

“We suspect this fire was caused by embers from a fire pit and our advice if you want to use a fire pit or a bonfire is to give it plenty of room. Set it up well away from anything that could catch fire like fences, sheds, trees, garden furniture etc as embers can easily be carried in a slight breeze and smoulder causing a fire.”