PRESSURE on Essex Fire Service is intensifying as blazes continue to break out amid the spell of dry weather.
The brigade revealed it is receiving more than double its usual volume of emergency calls and a similar trend in the amount of incidents it is attending across the county.
Over the weekend at least five fires broke out in north and mid Essex, putting a further strain on the emergency service.
On Saturday evening, four crews tackled a blaze in Grange Road, Harwich, behind the Fryatt Hospital, while on Sunday several hectares of crops caught alight in Meeting Lane, East Mersea.
Also on Sunday, fires broke out in Sible Hedingham and Dunmow while a crop field also became ablaze off Little Bromley Road, Ardleigh.
An Essex Fire Service spokesman said: “Between Friday at 6pm and yesterday at 9am, our control teams received 625 calls and crews attended 251 incidents.
“The average for the same dates over the previous three years is 280 calls and 135 incidents.
“This particularly busy period has now been ongoing for 11 days. Last week we received 586 calls and crews attended 248 incidents.”
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