Men lucky to be alive after car hits kangaroo and bursts into flames

Three men are lucky to be alive after their car hit a kangaroo and burst into flames, igniting a grassfire along a rural NSW motorway.

The men were able to get out of the car quickly and call firefighters about 7am yesterday, four kilometres north of Michelago, in the Monaro region.

Three fire engines reportedly arrived at the Monaro Highway within 10 minutes to quickly extinguish the blaze.

Michelago Rural Fire Brigade Captain Brent Wallis told the ABC the impact of the car colliding with a kangaroo set the engine bay into a fireball – something he’d rarely seen in his 20 years battling fires.

“The flames were about three to four metres high,” Mr Wallis said.

“I was surprised no-one was injured.

“The young men were fine and walking around, they actually tried to help us put out the grass fire … but shock is a thing that comes later.”

The captain shared a picture of the charred and blackened car on social media.

He said the wind blowing up the hill from the south spread the fire quickly, but the dry conditions worked in their favour in not adding more “fuel” to the blaze.

The Monaro Highway was closed for 30 minutes following the fire.

Mr Wallis said the lack of rain over the winter has put firefighters “on edge”.

“It’s a lot more drier coming into the spring than what we’ve had in the past 20 years, so everyone is on edge and ready to go.”