The cause of the fire which ripped through the roof of the Kings Head pub in Bradwell-on-Sea this evening (Friday, September 26) is thought to be "suspicious".
Firefighters were called to the High Street venue shortly before 5.30pm before sending four appliances to the scene.
Upon arrival the incident commander reported that the roof of the two-storey building, measuring 20m by 12m, was entirely alight.
Incident commander assistant divisional officer Dave Moore said: "This is a well developed fire affecting the whole of the pub. Efforts are being made to extinguish the blaze and protect surrounding properties."
Firefighters used four jets, four hose reels and a water bowser, scrambled from across Chelmsford and the Maldon district, to extinguish the blaze entirely by 6.57pm.
Crews requested electricity board engineers to isolate power and deal with external wiring and a structural engineer.
They also asked British Telecom engineers to attend the scene to assist crews who had to remove telephone lines to position the aerial ladder platform close to the property to be used in firefighting operations.
A joint police and fire service investigation will be carried out to establish the cause but they have already concluded the cause is suspicious.
