Several residents have shared their shocking photos and reactions following the late-night fire and ‘explosion’ at a business unit.

Numerous posts on Facebook were posted of people hearing a loud bang on Friday, May 17, within the Waltham Abbey area.

Mobile phone footage and several shots were then quickly shared showing bright flames and heavy smoke billowing into the sky.

Ten firefighting teams from Essex, Hertfordshire, London Fire Brigade were called to a unit on Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, at 9.54pm on Friday, May 17, battling the blaze for almost 24 hours.

Around 70 per cent of the 80m x 20m unit was on fire by the time emergency services arrived at the scene.

Tracey Staines, from Upshire, who has several friends that live close to the incident, had images sent to her showing how near the fire was.

“I was so worried if there was families or children there,” she said. “I have a friend who lives closer who said she was told to shut her windows and doors due to the fumes and to keep safe from further explosions.

“My other friend drove down to where it was and he sent me a video. I do feel sad that some families that went to bed last night will wake this morning losing their businesses and their jobs.”

Several Facebook users also described their homes shaking from the first explosion followed by the sound of another a few minutes later.

Although unconfirmed by emergency services, comments on the social media website suggested the burning unit was a kick boxing company.

Sarah Ward, from Audley Gardens, was one of closest houses to the incident who felt her house shake on Friday night.

She said: “10 o’clock was the first bang then quarter past there was more then we could see the fire over the trees.”

Dramatic shots were taken by Ms Ward as firefighters arrived at the scene.

Danny Wade, who lives in Ninefields, captured close-up shots of the a-light unit said he could not recall a fire this bad.

“I hope everyone is safe and no one was in there as an ambulance response was there aswell.” he said.

Essex Fire Services did confirm the building contained several vehicles and crew removed a number of cylinders from inside the unit and made them safe by cooling them using water.

As well as fire engines, crews also requested specialist vehicles to help tackle the fire, including a water bowser and an aerial ladder platform (ALP).

Station Manager Stuart Hare said: "Firefighters worked extremely hard throughout the night to extinguish this large and challenging fire.

“The unit where the fire started was joined to a number of other units, and a number of them have been affected by the smoke from the fire.

"The unit structure quickly became unsafe due to the damage, so we have been using the aerial ladder platform (ALP) to help extinguish the fire by pouring water on it from above."

By 8pm on Saturday, May 18, one fire engine remained at the scene to extinguish the remaining hot spots of the building.

It is currently unknown how the fire started, fire crews will make several re-visits over the next few days to ensure the whole site remains cool and will check for hot spots.

An investigation is being carried out to find the cause.