More than 40 firefighters tackled a fierce timber yard fire which covered the equivalent of one-and-half football fields in Hawkwell on Sunday morning.

Seven appliances, from Southend, Rochford, Leigh, Hadleigh and Rayleigh raced to the blaze which sent huge plumes of thick black smoke into the air, seen as far away as Shoebury.

The first firemen at the scene were almost instantly cut off after the fire attempted to jump a road. Collapsed live power lines caused additional worries for the crews, who had to sidestep the sparking cables as they worked.

Martin Hodder, Southend station commander and incident commander at the scene in Magnolia Park - a former nature reserve, off Magnolia Road in Hawkwell - said the heat radiating was "tremendous".

He said: "The timber stables and timber storage yard was 100 percent alight. There was something like 50 tonnes of timber on fire, along with nearby woodland. We had fork-lift trucks in the middle and their propane gas cylinders were exploding. Add to all that the live power cables were arcing and sparking like crazy.

"The heat was unbelievable. A few of the lads had to be treated for heat exhaustion and burns to their hands as they ran the hose-reels out."

For more on this story see today's (Monday's) Evening Echo

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