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Fatal flat blaze was accidental, says fire service

Henry Godfrey-Evans/BBC The backs of two red and yellow fire engines at the scene. It is night and they have their lights on. The side of the vehicle reads 'Fire and Rescue Service'.Henry Godfrey-Evans/BBC
Resident Mark Reid said residents were evacuated from the block of flats for several hours

A blaze in a flat in which a man died was started accidentally, a fire investigation has concluded.

Crews from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service went to Baxter Avenue in Southend-on-Sea at 11:42 BST on Friday.

The fire was in a first-floor flat which was heavily smoke-logged. The man died at the scene.

Neighbour Mark Reid, 52, told the BBC that the news had been "devastating".

"There was police, fire engines - the building was evacuated and it was several hours [residents] were out here - before they were able to go back in."

In March, there was a kitchen fire on the second floor of a block of flats on the same road.

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