TWO men escaped with their lives - and saved an engineering works from being destroyed by fire.

The two unnamed nightshift workers had only left a paint spraying booth, the seat of the fire at Middlesbrough engineering works Dowding and Mills, ten minutes before the toxic blaze occurred.

Fire Station Officer Ron Carr said: "They were in the canteen when the fire broke out. They noticed a hazy smoke. They initially tried fighting the fire themselves with an extinguisher but realised there was no way they could fight it.''

The duo called the Cleveland Fire Brigade and gave crews detailed information about the lay out of the building, on Lower East Street, St Hilda's, and where paints and cylinders were stored.

Yesterday's blaze, which is thought to have been sparked by an electrical fault, swept up a ventilation shaft into the roof. The shaft collapsed, but fortunately, noone was hurt.

Mr Carr who directed a team of 40 fire fighters said: " Everywhere the place was full of smoke: the whole place was full of smoke. We could not even see into the doorways because there was so much smoke.

"Because of the speedy reaction of the two workers and the intervention of the fire brigade the damage was minimised . Most important in these circumstances, noone was hurt, he added.

"The damage to the premises was such that the business should not be affected. Because of the nature of the fire, the damage could have been an awful lot more, if they had not acted as they did.''