NORTH Essex firefighters helped tackle a raging inferno at a home nearly 40 miles away from their headquarters after being called into action.

One fire crew from Brightlingsea rushed to Wright Mead, in Springfield, alongside firefighters from Chelmsford, at about 10am on Tuesday.

After arriving at the semi-detached house firefighters were confronted with a kitchen which had become engulfed in flames.

The blaze, which is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault in a fridge freezer, was extinguished shortly before 11am.

Despite the best efforts of the firefighters, the kitchen was left badly damaged, while the rest of the house suffered smoke damage throughout.

Matt Jamieson, crew manager, said: “This incident really highlights how important it is to have working smoke alarms at home.

“This fire spread rapidly throughout the kitchen and filled the house with smoke and with the smoke alarms going off, the resident had time to escape and call us out.

“We recommend you have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and you test them regularly. Working smoke alarms save lives.”

To find out more information about having a smoke alarmed installed for free by the Essex Fire Service visit essex-fire.gov.uk/book.