Maldon Fire Station thanks public for help in locating fire

On Sunday afternoon, Maldon Fire Station attended a grass fire on the seawall near Heybridge Basin.

Thanks to a member of the public using What3Words, firefighters were better able to locate the fire and identified Heybridge Basin lock as the nearest access point to the fire location.

What3Words geo-plots your exact location by giving every three-metre square of the world a unique combination of three words. 

The app is used for e-commerce, deliveries, navigation, emergencies, and more. 

In this instance, ‘plotting/wool/cropping’ told the crew where the fire was and helped them identify the best point of access to tackle it.

Fire - The flames were located on the seawall and extinguished (Image: Essex County Fire and Rescue Service) App - What3Words helps locate exact spaces, which is handy for emergencies (Image: Essex County Fire and Rescue Service) A spokesman for Maldon Fire Station said: “Thanks to a member of the public who had the app on their phone, firefighters were able to better locate a grass fire on the seawall near Heybridge Basin.

“Owing to the remote access, the only way to extinguish the fire was by use of backpack sprayers, which were carried by foot along the seawall.

“A big ‘thank you’ to The Old Ship, Heybridge Basin, who provided out team with refreshments afterwards.”

What3Words is available to download for free on the App Store or Google Play Store.