FIREFIGHTERS were left with faces as red as their engines yesterday when a blaze broke out at their headquarters and they were forced to call colleagues from a neighbouring station to put it out.

Shortly before 8am, a passer-by spotted smoke billowing from the fire station at Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire.

The part-time firefighters were called from their homes to an emergency, only to find it was their workplace that was in flames.

Then, to make matters worse, the crew was unable to reach the fire engines because of the smoke.

Despite using fire extinguishers and the hose kept to clean the tenders, the Boroughbridge boys were forced to admit defeat and call out their colleagues from Ripon.

The building was not badly damaged, although the same could not be said for the crew's pride.

To cap it all, it was the 13th time this year the Boroughbridge crew had been called out.

Terry Glover, from the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It's going to be an interesting fire report to write.

"This incident highlights how indiscriminate fire is. It just shows that nobody is safe from fire. It is always possible, even in a fire station."

The blaze is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault in a storage room.