BASICS Essex Rettendon Fire Statement: Charity extends gratitude to emergency services while launching community appeal.

On Friday 24th July at approximately 4:50pm, BASICS Essex Headquarters, situated on Highlands Farm was directly affected by a fire and explosion, which was quickly classed as a major incident.

Firstly, we would like to reiterate our sincere thanks to the outstanding firefighters and emergency services who responded with such bravery and professionalism, including many of our colleagues East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, in particular the HART team.

Their actions ensured people’s safety during an exceptionally challenging situation.

We would like to send our best wishes to the 20 individuals that were taken to Hospital following the incident, who we understand have now been discharged.

These thoughts are extended to local businesses alongside anyone living in the surrounding area that has been directly impacted by the explosion.

We can confirm that one of our emergency response vehicles - located on the site, suffered both windscreen and roof damage, further assessment will be required before appropriate repairs are made.  We will now be operating with one less vehicle on-the-road, however we will continue to utlilise our second response car and our solo responders to ensure that we can respond to critical incidents, providing pre-hospital emergency medicine.

While we have not been able to access the site over the weekend and have only had photos sent to us, we will be assessing full damages at the headquarters as soon as we are granted access, which holds essential life-saving equipment and fragile medical stocks that enable our volunteers to provide critical care throughout the county, when needed.

We can confirm that we are currently reviewing options for a temporary headquarters re-location. Once we have more information in regards to these damages, we will share publicly.

While we have been fortunate that our damage is minor compared with that suffered by others, we recognise the significant difficulties many now face.

We are extremely grateful to the kind words and donations from the public over the weekend. We would like to re-assure you that these donations will go a long way in the road to recovery for the charity.

In 2026 alone BASICS Essex volunteers have responded to over 215 critical incidents, alongside hosting several FREE CPR / Field First aid demonstrations for local businesses.

As a charity that receives no statutory funding, we rely on donations and the generosity of our local community to keep our volunteer doctors and paramedics responding to critically ill and injured patients across Essex.

We are therefore asking our community to support us through this unexpected and difficult period. Any donation, however large or small, will help us meet these unplanned costs and protect our ability to continue delivering vital pre-hospital emergency medicine.

You can support BASICS Essex here: Donate to BASICS Essex

Alternatively, text ESSEX to 70085 to donate £5, or contact kim.turner@basicsessex.org.uk directly.