Firefighters tackled a blaze in a derelict house.
Four crews - plus the aerial ladder platform from Basildon - were at the scene in Church Road, West Tilbury, for several hours.
Church Road, a narrow, country lane between East and West Tilbury, was blocked to through traffic as the platform was set up across the road to pour water on the flames from above.
Crews spent more than three hours fighting the blaze, which is being treated as suspicious and will be subject to a police investigation.
Church Road remained closed to traffic while hoses damped down the flames.
A spokesman for Orsett fire station said: "It was well alight when crews arrived and the roof collapsed at an early stage, meaning we could not commit officers to the building."
Nobody was injured.
Published Tuesday, April 22, 2003
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