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Cylinders explode at farm buildings fire

Katy Prickett
BBC News, Essex
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service A burnt-out vehicles, with smoke rising. The majority of the image shows a burnt out car, its frame buckled, behind it can be seen another vehicle. On the far right is a burnt out lorry. There is lots of other debris. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
The fire had taken hold of a large open-sided barn, a wooden outbuilding and a number of smaller buildings and containers

Gas cylinders have exploded as crews tackled a fire that spread to several farm buildings and destroyed vehicles.

Crews were called to Little Hallingbury, Essex, on the Hertfordshire border near Bishop's Stortford, at about 03:30 BST.

They prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby thatched house and stable block, with horses inside, which were unharmed.

Station manager Lee Hurst described it as a challenging incident to bring under control" with crews "met with a well-developed fire and very limited water supply".

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Two burnt out vehicles surrounded by smoke and water puddles. On the right is a lorry facing on, and on the right is the rear of a car. There is other blackened debris on the ground around them. They are between two burnt out barn structures. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

"Crews also had to contend with a number of gas cylinders inside the burning buildings, some of which exploded due to the intense heat," he added.

Additional crews, including from Hertfordshire, helped tackle the fire.

Water bowsers, which are large vehicles carrying significant amounts of water, were brought in to provide a sufficient water supply.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was unknown.

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