Inferno rips through industrial estate as firefighters battle huge blaze overnight

An Essex industrial estate has been left in ruin after almost 60 firefighters from 12 crews tackled a blaze overnight.

The fire broke out shortly after 11pm yesterday evening at the site in Woolmongers Lane, High Ongar.

Emergency responders were working with "a limited water supply to surround the fire", Essex Fire and Rescue Service said.

Five crews remained at the scene this morning, working to dampen the area and monitor hotspots – with pictures showing the devastation.

Station manager Kev Jenner said: "We expect to be at the scene throughout the day and would ask people to avoid the area while we deal with this incident."

Crews from Ongar, Harlow, Ingatestone, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Great Dunmow, and Rayleigh Weir stations all attended the fierce scene late last night.

The combined crews worked overnight to contain the fire, focusing on dividing the site into sections to bring the incident under control.

During the peak of the incident, another station manager, Scott Fretton said: "Crews have worked really hard with a limited water supply to surround the fire and we’re now in a position to start scaling this incident down.

"We’ll scale it down to eight crews initially and we anticipate being here for several hours."

Nearby residents in adjacent properties have been advised by fire crews to keep windows and doors closed as they work to make the area safe.

In an update this morning, Mr Jenner said: "Crews have made good progress this morning to tackle the fire in sections.

"You might see lots of smoke as it starts to get lighter throughout the morning and hear some bangs coming from the scene as there are cylinders involved."

Dramatic footage emerging overnight shows one of the barns going up in flames as the fire raged within, appearing to contain farming or industrial cylinders.

Images released by the fire service depict huge plumes of thick smoke completely obstructing beyond immediate view as pockets of motorhomes, cars and buildings were consumed.

Crews in the area face gruelling weather conditions as they work throughout the day, with temperatures expected to climb to 30C in High Ongar.

The inferno comes within weeks of a tragedy nearby, after two people died when an aircraft crashed into a field while on a "short flight experience".

The two-seater Cessna crashed into Mill Lane in Ongar after it took off from North Weald airfield seven miles away, police confirmed.

The passengers on board died in the crash, with one named as 25-year-old Indian student Vamshi Krishna Mandala.