Essex explosion was the phrase used in an anonymous post shared by Harlow Fire Station after firefighters were called to a roof fire in Rundells, Harlow, at 5:55pm yesterday. Crews arrived to find the roof of a house on fire and worked around a gas cylinder inside the roof space before the blaze was out by 6:50pm.
Rundells, Harlow roof fire
Essex Fire and Rescue Service sent crews to the residential area in Harlow after the call came in at 5:55pm. On arrival, firefighters reported that the roof of a house was burning, and the response then focused on the cylinder in the roof space rather than just the visible flames.
That detail changes the scene from a straightforward roof fire to one where heat could build around pressurised equipment. Cooling the cylinder was part of the work needed before the fire could be brought under control.
Harlow Fire Station post
The complication in the story comes from the post shared by Harlow Fire Station. In that message, a person said an explosion caused the fire to the roof, while the fire service description said only that a gas cylinder was involved.
Those two descriptions do not match word for word, and they leave the same practical point unresolved for anyone affected by the incident: whether the cylinder merely caught fire or whether it failed first and started the roof blaze. The service’s account places the cylinder inside the roof space and shows crews had to cool it before the fire was extinguished.
Essex Fire and Rescue Service
By 6:50pm, crews had put the fire out. For residents in Rundells, that means the immediate emergency had ended that evening, but the key fact from the service account remains the same: a roof fire, a gas cylinder inside the roof space, and a response built around making the area safe enough to finish the job.
What caused the gas cylinder to ignite or explode is the unanswered point that matters most now, because it is the piece that would explain how a house roof fire in Harlow developed so quickly.
