CARE home residents had to be exacuated after a blaze broke out in the kitchen.
Firefighters were called to Little Wakering House in Little Wakering Road, Little Wakering, which cares for people with special needs, at 7.30pm.
When crews from Southend arrived at the scene they discovered the ground floor kitchen was well alight.
Staff had already begun to evacuate residents to safety, and no casualties were reported.
The blaze started because of a broken dishwasher, which had an electrical fault and caught alight.
Crews entered the building wearing breathing apparatus, and used one hose reel to tackle the flames and a high pressure fan to to clear the property of smoke.
Firefighters were at the scene for around an hour, and say there was extensive damage to the ground floor kitchen.
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