SOUTH Essex firefighters dealt with the most accidental house fires in Essex last year, new figures reveal.

The figures, published this month by Essex and Fire Rescue, also revealed there were 20 more cases of deliberate fires in the county in 2016, up by 33 per cent on recent years.

The report shows Southend fire station dealt with 91 cases of accidental house fires, Colchester 86 and Basildon 67.

It indicates a five per cent rise in accidental house fires, in line with the national average.

The rise is due to a number of factors, including people being distracted by children or their phones while cooking, faulty white goods, fake technology, and vulnerable people being left alone following recent times of austerity, Essex Fire has said.

It comes as the fire service issued a raft of safety advice to help residents stay safe.

James Taylor, assistant divisional officer for Essex Fire, undertook part of the study.

He said: “If there is a fire, just get out of the building and call 999. And if you have time close all of the doors behind you, do.

“A person can be overcome by smoke with just two or three breaths.

“Make sure you have working fire alarms on every floor and an escape plan.

“If there’s a fire in the middle of the night, when people wake up their natural reaction is to feel panicked. Plus they’re drowsy.

“Having an escape plan to make sure people’s lives are saved.

“Don’t try to get your belongings safe, they can be replaced. Lives can’t be replaced.

“And don’t try to tackle the fire yourself.”

But Melanie Bailey, 36, of Atherstone Road in Canvey, said her family feels “lucky to be alive” after her husband fought a fire when their Hotpoint Aquarius Plus dishwasher burst into flames last month.

She told how the couple would usually turn the dishwasher on before going to bed, but stayed up late that night to watch TV.

The couple, who have three children, Olivia, three, Ellison, one, and Brodie, three months, followed the trail of smoke into the kitchen where the appliance had turned into a fireball.

Her husband Dave managed to extinguish the fire with tea towels and the garden hose after cutting off the electricity.

She said: “I’m a creature of habit. Usually I would do the chores, then put the dishwasher on and go to bed - it was so lucky we stayed up later that night.

“I’m angry the company put our family in danger. The trouble is, these everyday appliances are in all of our homes now.

“For what it’s worth I’d recommend people don’t put their appliances on overnight.

“Even if you’re there when an appliance catches alight, what are you meant to do?”

A family forced to sleep in their shed after their house in Mornington Road, Canvey, was damaged in a suspected arson attack told of their grief.

The family of three adults who do not want to be identified, told how their lives have been ruined after a blaze destroyed the roof of a council property, before spreading to their home.

The father said: “How do I feel about a rise in deliberate fires? I think it’s frightening to think about what goes on in this world.

After something like this happens you have nowhere to turn, you feel so alone, if I think about what we have lost I feel like I could cry. After something like this you need counselling.”