Bonfire warning after three homes set alight
Essex County Fire and Rescue ServicePeople have been warned not to start bonfires in their gardens during the hot spell of weather after a house was destroyed and two more were damaged in a blaze.
Two men and a dog were rescued from one home, while two neighbouring properties were also evacuated in Chelmsford at 01:54 BST.
It took 20 firefighters to put out the blaze, believed to have been started by bonfire embers. Fire spread through a garden to a shed and fence before taking hold on the outside of a house and sweeping through the loft space.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service watch manager Steve Joyce said families, some with children, had woken in the night to see to "terrifying scenes of flames taller than their houses".
Joyce, from the city's fire station, said: "This incident shows the dangers of how having a bonfire in this hot and dry weather can cause devastating fires.
"Three homes have been damaged, one completely destroyed.
"Where everything is so dry and flammable at the moment, it took minutes for embers to spread along the fences and throughout the garden."
He urged householders to "not have bonfires until we've had some significant rain - everything is so tinder dry and will be until we have lots of rain".
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