A Queensland man was lucky enough to escape after breaking free from his car seconds before it burst into flames on the side of a Queensland road.
Mark Couch driving on the Bruce Highway from Toowoomba to the Sunshine Coast at 2am. Monday when the unthinkable happened.
One moment everything appeared to be normal and the next he could barely see the road.
“I think I’m driving in thick fog, but there’s smoke coming out of the engine compartment,” he told 7News.
Realising the danger, Mr Couch pulled over on the side of the road and tried to exit the vehicle, but found that the doors were jammed.
Finding himself unable to exit the car, he managed to kick the driver’s side window open and climb out – a moment of quick thinking that saved his life.
Seconds after escaping the vehicle, it burst into flames, with footage showing his Toyota HiLux absolutely submerged in hell like M. Couch, from a distance.
“It was terrifying. I’m glad the adrenaline is pumping,” he said.
Emergencies were called and they were eventually able to extinguish the fire, with the Sunshine Coast local calling them “exceptional. “
Photos taken after the twist of fate show the car completely destroyed by fire, with the exterior burned and the interior melted.
Mr. Couch was reportedly taken to the hospital but made a full recovery.
He told 7News he was “extremely lucky and fortunate” to have emerged unscathed from the “freak accident”.
Originally published as Driver Rescue Act before a car caught fire on the Queensland highway
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