A RAGING blaze broke out next to a railway line after uncontrollable flames from an incinerator bin set fire to surrounding trees.

Two fire engines rushed to Burrs Road, Clacton, just after 7pm on Sunday following reports of a fire on the rail embankment near the Gorse Lane Industrial Estate.

Once on the scene, firefighters discovered trees and shrubs were alight and worked to extinguish the inferno using water hoses, which they connected to a water supply outside of the Burrs Road Post Office.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Due to the difficult positioning of the fire, crews were forced to pull one of their hoses through a house which backed onto the blaze and the other along the train tracks in order to gain a vantage point.

After battling the fire for nearly two hours, the braze firefighters successfully put out the blaze by 9pm.

James Dunkley spotted the fire while driving along Sladbury’s Lane with his wife and one-year-old child.

He rushed towards it to see if the fire brigade had been called, before recording a video which shows the inferno at its most raging.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Mr Dunkley said: ‘‘We saw the smoke and flames from a distance.

“We headed on to Burrs Road to see if the fire brigade had been called.

“One fire engine was already there but as the fire was so close to the train track it was struggling to access it.

“It was close to both the train line and a house and I could feel the heat even from the distance where the video was taken from.’’

Large plumes of thick smoke could be seen billowing towards the sky from up to two miles away and trains running between Thorpe-le-Soken, Clacton and Walton were delayed.

Cars looking to pass over the train crossing also had to find alternative routes.

The fire was caused by an ember which fell from an incinerator bin.

The homeowner, who doesn’t wish to be named, said: “My garden runs along the railway track and an ember from an incinerator bin we were using fell down into the railway line and caught fire to the trees and bushes.

“We phoned the fire brigade as soon as we saw the fire getting out of control and thankfully, they managed to put it rather quickly.”

“There was no damage to our property or sheds.”