A young mum had a narrow escape when her car suddenly caught fire on a country lane. Jodie Buckley, 29, was driving to her mum’s house when her Suzuki Swift started to burn.
She got out just in time before the car turned into a huge fireball. Firefighters rushed over and put out the fire on January 31.
The car was totally wrecked by the fire. Jo said: “Luckily I was alone in the car at the time but I noticed it spluttering, labouring and then picking up speed.”
“As I headed towards Powick it died completely with smoke coming from the bonnet. It was terrifying.”
Jodie’s mum, Jo Buckley, 57, saw the whole thing happen. She said: “I was on the phone with her daughter at the time and was shocked at how quickly the car went from breaking down to being consumed by fire. She said ‘Mum, I think my car is breaking down’.”
“I said, ‘See if you can get it to me, just see how far you can get’. She said ‘Mum, it’s smoking’ and I said, ‘Just stop and get out’.”
A kind van driver stopped to help, and Jo heard him talking on the phone too.
She said: “This man came from behind and opened her door and pulled her out. He told her ‘you can’t go near it – it’s going to go up! It’s on fire, you need to get out of the way!’ All she could see was black smoke. What he saw was flames coming out of the grille. It was one of the most awful phone calls, listening to my daughter describe what was happening. It happened in a matter of seconds. There was black smoke then it was in flames.”
“Within two to three minutes it was engulfed. It’s a horrible experience for her to go through. But she got out. She’s alive. I’m very thankful to the man. It’s a crying shame I can’t know who he is.”
Jo also praised both firefighters and police who she said were on the scene very quickly and very supportive of her daughter.
She added: “Everybody was just amazing. People say they are just doing their job but sometimes thank you needs to be said.”
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
