This is the moment that two men on a cigarette break narrowly escape death when a out of control fire engine smashed into a shop front.
Footage posted online show the pair throwing themselves out of the way in front of a mobile phone shop in Birmingham as the vehicle mounts the kerb and veers towards them.
It is believed that the female firefighter may have been attempting a three-point turn during a 999 call out when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the shop front.
Pharmacist Nadeem Nazar, 28, who saw the accident, said: 'I was sitting there and the fire engine was coming down, sirens on.
'She [the woman firefighter] slowed down at the junction of Trafalgar Road and attempted a three-point turn.
'Mid-attempt she went further than expected, mounted the kerb and veered toward the shop.
'There were two chaps sitting on the step and she had to sound the sirens and they dived out of the way at the last minute and she crashed into the shop.
'One of the lads here said she must have seen a special offer in the shop and tried to go in.'
The embarrassing accident occurred at 6 pm and according to a witness the firemen were seen 'having a giggle' about the ordeal at a local pub later in the evening. It was finally removed at 9 pm.
Administrator Charlene Pendlebury, 26, who lives nearby, said: 'I was walking home and I heard a bloke say "bloody women drivers" and then I saw it.
'I thought, how on earth did that happen? It gives women drivers a bad name. It is a tight turn but that is ridiculous. They had to block the whole road off.
'There were about six or seven fire trucks all along the road and crowds of people watching, waiting to see what would happen. It must have cost so much money having all those firefighters and workers out.'
Photographer Gareth Parsons said: 'The fire engine was turning left when coming out of a T-junction but ploughed head on into the shop. It looked like he was trying to do a three-point-turn at high speed.
'No one was hurt but the damage to the shop looks extensive.'
