A Chorley family has relived the dramatic moment when they were nearly engulfed in a fireball.
In a scene straight out of a horror movie, the Knowles family from Clayton-le-Woods got out of their Fiat Punto car a split-second before it went up in flames.
Tony Knowles, who'd been with his wife Vanessa and their teenage son Anthony, says if they'd been in a three-door car instead of a five-door vehicle, the extra delay could have resulted in tragic consequences.
The Guardian featured the dramatic incident and now Tony has stepped forward to say it was his family that had the lucky escape.
Speaking for the first time about what happened, he said he'd been travelling along Doctor's Lane in Eccleston in torrential rain on October 25, when the drama unfolded at 11.30pm.
Tony, who works for Royal Mail, said: "We were travelling back from a function in Mawdesley when we drove through quite a deep puddle.
"It was a horrendous night because the rain was so heavy, but the puddle didn't seem any deeper than usual, but then the car started to lose power.
"The speed kept dropping and the car went from 10mph to 5mph and then my wife Vanessa, who was driving at the time, said she could see smoke.
"I saw steam coming from the engine, but then she said 'look behind you' and the smoke was so bad that we couldn't see our 13-year-old son in the back.
"Flames then started coming from the gearstick and the handbrake and Vanessa shouted 'quick get out'.
"We stepped away from the car and when we turned around it was like a fireball with flames coming from under the car which took hold."
Tony added: "I immediately rang the emergency services and a couple stopped to help and took Vanessa and Anthony into their car.
"I went to stop the traffic in Doctor's Lane as the fire was really intense and neighbours started coming out of their houses as the horn of the car sounded permanently because of the fire.
"There were a few bangs and pops and then the fire brigade arrived with the police.
"It could have been a lot worse and we were grateful to the couple who stopped and everyone who helped."
The wreckage of the 2001 Fiat Punto was later recovered and the family, who live in Claughton Avenue, are now awaiting an engineer's report to find out the cause of the explosion.
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