Tim Tasane had been a firefighter for 28 years

Horrified colleagues looked on as Tim Tasane, 46, became engulfed in flames in the rear yard at Northallerton fire station in North Yorkshire.

He had spoken to one of his sons just moments before he took his life, mentioning mounting debts.

Coroner Michael Oakley recorded a verdict that Mr Tasane killed himself.

Fire control officer Debra Pheasant was on duty shortly before midnight on 9 January when she heard noises coming from the back yard.

When she went to investigate she discovered her colleague on fire.

I didn't realise who it was at the time, I knew it was a fireman

Colleague Debra Pheasant

She said: "There was a man on fire at the window in front of me.

"Firefighters were putting water onto Tim. I shouted out 'what are you doing?' I couldn't take in what was happening. I thought it was an exercise. I wondered 'where is everybody?'. I didn't realise who it was at the time, I knew it was a fireman."

Mr Tasane, who had been a firefighter for 28 years, had three sons and a daughter and lived in Northallerton.

One of his sons, Ben, who serves in the Army, told the inquest how his father broke down in tears one day as he dropped him off at the railway station before a deployment to Iraq.

He told the hearing: "He did not seem himself at all.

"I have been to Iraq before, he'd seen me go off before. He was never like this before, he started sobbing and crying.

"I said to my mother, just watch him."

Ben said he spoke to his father on the phone several times before his death and he seemed more like his normal self.

However, about 15 minutes before he took his life he spoke to his father again and he mentioned some of his problems.

"He said he was going to go away and I was to look after the others. I rang him back and he said he had mounting debts and the house was going to be repossessed."

A typed note, which was not read out to the court, was found among his possessions.