FIREFIGHTERS have praised residents for acting quickly to escape their house and seek help after food in their kitchen caught fire.

Two crews from Colchester were called to the incident in Blackberry Road, Stanway just before 12.30pm on Monday.

On arrival, the firefighters reported there was a small fire in a kitchen and worked to extinguish it with dry powder just after 12.50pm.

The fire started when a tray of food under the grill caught alight.

The crews have now praised the residents for acting quickly to escape their house and calling the fire service.

Colchester fire station’s crew manager, Noel Bush, said: “The residents did the right thing as soon as the fire started by getting out of the house and calling us straight away.

“They were waiting out the front of the house when we arrived.

“It’s really important to get out of the house as soon as you discover a fire or when you hear your smoke alarms going off and that you never attempt to extinguish a fire yourselves.”