Firemen in a small Japanese town were left red-faced after a party to mark the end of a fire-awareness promotional event ended in a blaze that badly damaged their station.
No one was injured in the fire, which is thought to have been started either by a gas canister used for the firemen's barbecue or by a kerosene heater.
"It's very embarrassing that this should happen to people whose job it is to go and put out fires," the spokesman said.
