A BUSINESS has been completely destroyed by a fire which caused gas cylinders to explode and residents to be evacuated.

Seven crews spent more than six hours tackling the blaze which started at 3.30am this morning in the wareheouse unit at Purdeys Industrial Estate, in Rochehall Lane, Rochford.

The fire involved a diesel tank, LPG cylinders and an acetylene cylinder, some of which exploded when crews arrived on site.

They set up a 200m exclusion zone around the unit and had to evacuate residents from their houseboats on the river Roach.

Crews used three ground monitors to control the blaze and protect surrounding risks, including a ruptured diesel tank which has spilled fuel.

Assistant divisional officer Paul Chipperfield, incident commander, said: "On arrival crews were faced with a well developed fire with explosions being caused by cylinders inside the building. They immediately put monitors down and withdrew to a safe distance.

"Their swift action in getting monitors on the fire meant that we were able to contain the blaze to the unit it started in and prevent it from spreading. It is thanks to the fantastic job these crews did when they first arrived that we were able to contain this fire to the unit it started in."

Crews from Southend and Hawkwell were joined by another Southend crew plus engines from Leigh, Rayleigh Weir and Orsett, as well as a hose layer from Rayleigh Weir and Chelmsford’s water bowser.

The fire was extinguished just after 9.45am and left the scene at 11am. But they returned this afternoon to begin an investigation to establish the cause of the blaze.

Divisional officer Mark Earwicker said: "The fire was in a workshop used to maintain vehicles and involved a number of cylinders and barrels of oil which led to the blaze quickly escalating in the way it did. One of the cylinders involved was an acetylene cylinder. Once these are heated a chemical reaction starts within the cylinder which can lead to an explosion. This explosion can send shrapnel flying over 200 metres, so we put a hazard zone in place.

"The cylinder is tested at regular intervals to see if it has cooled. Once we are certain it has cooled and is no longer a hazard then we remove the hazard zone. This happened at around 08:30hrs this morning."

The exclusion zone has been removed and residents have been allowed to return to their houseboats.