Overview
- A large fire at industrial units on Southend Road between East Hanningfield and Rettendon led to a fertiliser explosion on Friday that was heard and felt across wide parts of Essex.
- Essex County Fire & Rescue Service declared a major incident and initially deployed more than 100 firefighters as crews worked to surround and extinguish the blaze.
- The East of England Ambulance Service declared a critical incident and sent its hazardous-area team to support on-scene medical and safety checks.
- Twenty firefighters were taken to hospital for assessments with four recorded minor injuries, and the explosion destroyed three fire engines and two officer cars used in the response.
- The main fire is now under control but crews remain on site to damp down hotspots, maintain road closures and support recovery while a formal probe looks into the cause and sequence of events.