TWO fire crews from Grays attended a blaze at home in Caspian Way, Purfleet, and afterwards spoke about the importance of smoke alarms - which in this case helped minimise the impact of the fire.

The alarm was raised yesterday (Monday, 12 September) at 9.45am when a smoke alarm alerted a neighbour to a fire in a ground floor flat.

On arrival, firefighters confirmed there was a fire in the kitchen, caused by cooking which had been left unattended. The flat and surrounding hallways were heavily smoke-logged.

Crews worked to extinguish the fire by 10.15am, and then cleared the building of smoke.

Watch Manager, Gary Bannister, at Grays Fire Station, said: "This is a really great example of how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your home.

"Smoke alarms can alert neighbours or passersby to a fire if you're not home."