Essex County Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to a Colchester fire near Stanley Wooster Way on the Greenstead estate at about 9.15pm on Tuesday after residents reported hearing an explosion. A crew from Colchester found a small blaze in an outdoor tool storage area, and the fire was already out when they arrived.
The crew made sure the fire was fully extinguished before leaving the scene at 9.44pm. The service recorded the cause as accidental, which leaves the reported explosion sound as the main detail residents noticed before firefighters reached the storage area.
Stanley Wooster Way in Colchester
The fire started in a residential area, not in a factory or roadside verge, which made the callout more immediate for people living nearby on the Greenstead estate. A picture posted on social media showed a fire engine and an ambulance at the scene.
That combination of a reported explosion and a fire that was out on arrival is the part that matters most to nearby residents. The service’s record of an accidental cause points to a non-deliberate origin, but it does not explain the sound people heard when the fire began.
Greenstead estate response
For residents near Stanley Wooster Way, the key practical point is that crews have already checked the site, extinguished the blaze fully and left the area. The incident was handled within the same evening, from the first call at about 9.15pm to departure at 9.44pm.
What remains with the story is the sound that drew attention before the fire was found. Residents described an explosion; the fire service recorded the fire as accidental.
