A Griffith woman has had a lucky escape, hopping out of her smoking car just moments before it erupted in flames.
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At about 7:40pm on Monday, the Hanwood resident was driving a Great Wall panel van on Joncondon Road when smoke began to billow out of the car's bonnet.
The woman immediately pulled over and began to walk home. A few minutes later she heard a horn blast and turned around to see the vehicle engulfed in flames.
Emergency services were called to the scene to extinguish the blaze.
Griffith fire fighter Gavin Wickenden says the vehicle was well alight when crews arrived.
"The car was completely ablaze by the time we got there. There was smoke billowing across the road and there wasn't much visibility at all," he said.
Fire crews spent about 40 minutes extinguishing the blaze, but police say the vehicle had been "completely burned out" by 9:20pm.
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Earlier that day, the woman had noticed a small amount of smoke coming out of the bonnet while driving from Leeton to Hanwood. At that time she pulled over and waited for the smoke to stop before continuing to drive.
The vehicle was owned by the woman's husband and was insured.
It is not yet known what was wrong with the car, however firefighter Gavin Wickenden noted that the drivers side was "significantly more damaged" than the passenger side.
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