Firefighters rush to save beloved local pub after blaze breaks out on decking

Ben McCaffrey
Thu, 02 Apr 2026 18:41:25 +0000

Firefighters have saved a local pub in Essex after a blaze broke out next door.

Emergency services were called to a fire in Stanford-le-Hope in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Decking had caught fire and had already expanded into nearby buildings by the time crews arrived at the scene.

The blaze rapidly spread to the loft of the Railway Tavern, a neighbouring pub.

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Gino’s Taverna, an Italian restaurant that closed earlier this year, was also caught in the inferno.

An Aerial Ladder Platform was deployed to address the roof space and halt any further progression of the flames.

The cause is yet to be determined, with investigators working to establish what sparked the incident.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service received the emergency call at 2:40am, with two crews initially responding to the scene.

Additional resources were swiftly summoned upon arrival with the blaze spreading across buildings.

A third crew was dispatched from Grays fire station.

The Aerial Ladder Platform proved essential in tackling the incident, allowing firefighters to access and cool the roof space effectively.

Crews dismantled sections of the roof to identify and extinguish any remaining hotspots, ensuring the fire could not reignite or spread to adjacent premises.

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A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: "Firefighters were called to a fire in Church Hill, Stanford-le-Hope at 2:40am.

"On arrival, two crews reported a fire on the decking had spread into a building.

"A further crew and an Aerial Ladder Platform from Grays were requested to help prevent the fire spreading into an adjacent pub.

"Crews worked quickly to put the fire out and used the Aerial Ladder Platform to cool the roof space of the building to prevent it spreading further.

"An investigation will be carried out later today to determine the cause of the fire."

Watch Manager Steve Barclay from Orsett Fire Station said: "Initial crews worked brilliantly to get this fire under control and get water onto the scene quickly, this helped to stop the fire spreading into the roof space of the pub next door and has minimised damage.

"We had an Aerial Ladder Platform on scene with firefighters taking the roof apart to cool any hotspots and we’re really pleased to have stopped the fire spreading next door."