AFTER a day spent damping down and supervising helping make the building safe, Essex firefighters finally left the scene of a big fire in West Thurrock at 7.30 this evening (Wednesday, 3 August).

That is more than 14 hours after the alarm at the site on Motherwell Road, close to the Costo Petrol station, was raised.

At the peak of the blaze at the building which acts as a depot and base for the ambulance service, nine crews of firefighers tackled the flames.

A number of ambulance service vehicles inside the building have been destroyed and the building itself will be demolished for safety reasons.

The final two crews left the scene this evening after monitoring hotspots and dampening down the scene throughout the day.

An investigation into the cause of the fire was carried out and found it was caused accidentally.