A SYSTEM which emits a water mist when it detects fire has been fitted on a Basildon estate which was gutted by a blaze two years ago.

Automatic fire suppression systems have been installed in the timber-clad Bockingham Green flats on the Felmores Estate.

A fire, which broke out in a ground floor bedsit in the area in July 2013, damaged five homes.

It came four years after a similar blaze in Bockingham Green, where 90 people were evacuated.

Essex County Fire and Rescue has been working with Basildon Council to fit water misting systems, which start automatically in the event of a fire.

Fire service divisional officer Mark Earwicker said: “Automatic fire suppression systems offer the best fire protection available.

“They prevent fires from spreading by containing them to the room where they break out and often will completely extinguish a fire almost straight away.

“The fire which hit these flats in 2013 would not have spread to cause the damage it did if the water misting systems were in place then.

“It is great to be here today knowing that through our collaboration with Basildon Council these flats have such affective fire safety systems installed.”

The fire service and council have each contributed half the cost of the scheme.

Mandy Skeat, Basildon Council head of housing, said: “This is a very important project and it has been an extremely effective working partnership between us and Essex County Fire and Rescue.

“Most importantly thanks to this project our tenants are now as safe as they possibly can be from the risk of fire.”

Automatic fire suppression systems will continue to be fitted across the Felmores Estate.

Essex County Fire and Rescue has pledged £250,000 to help make sure homes where the most vulnerable people live are protected by sprinkler systems.

The funding is available to local authorities, housing associations and charities.

For more information, visit essex-fire.gov.uk/Work_Fire_Safety/Sprinklers

Echo:

Marking the installation of the new system: Estate housing officer Tracy Roche, station officer Mike Sparrow, divisional officer Mark Earwicker, Basildon Council head of housing Mandy Skeat, council property services manager James Henderson, estate housing officer Katrina Fowler.