FIREFIGHTERS spent three days fighting the flames as a huge blaze engulfed a warehouse.
Essex Fire and Rescue were called to the inferno in Convent Lane, Braintree, on New Year’s Eve.
Residents in the surrounding areas reported seeing thick, black smoke from miles away.
The blaze broke out at 12.30pm.
Fire crews said an industrial unit – measuring approximately 60 metres by 20 metres – was 100 per cent alight when they arrived.
Six fire engines from Braintree, Halstead, Colchester, Chelmsford, Corringham and Hawkwell tackled the fire at the height of the blaze.
Two fire engines from Dunmow were later called to assist.
Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire throughout the afternoon.
They had to remove recyclable material being stored inside the building so it could be extinguished outside.
The incident was later scaled down to three crews who remained at the scene throughout the night.
Firefighters were there throughout Saturday, with on-call crews from Ongar, Manningtree and Hawkwell at the site.
Station manager Ben Turner said at the time: “We’ll be on the scene all day so residents will notice more smoke as we remove materials from the industrial unit and continue to extinguish the fire.
“This is nothing to worry about as we have the incident under control.”
Work continued throughout the whole day, with crews staying on for a second overnight shift.
Station manager Richie Green said: “Firefighters have worked really hard since this incident started more than 30 hours ago and they have done a brilliant job to get is safely under control.
“Ninety-five per cent of the fire is now extinguished but, due to the condition of the building, we will continue firefighting operations in the morning.
“Smoke is still coming from the site so please keep your doors and windows closed.”
Three crews remained in attendance and continued to work to fully extinguish the fire on Sunday.
The fire was fully extinguished by 3pm on January 2, with a crew keeping a watching brief on a rolling basis until Monday morning when they finally left the site.
The unit was being used to store recyclable materials.
An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the blaze.
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