Two people escaped unharmed after a car caught fire in Paget yesterday afternoon.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer John Pacheco told last night that the vehicle ? a Nissan Sentra ? was almost completely engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived at the scene just after 1 p.m.

He said the driver and passenger managed to escape from the vehicle and were uninjured.

The blaze happened near the Middle Road side of S Hill, and took seven firefighters ten minutes to extinguish.

"We had two personnel in breathing apparatus using an inch-and-a-half hose line to extinguish the fire," said Mr. Pacheco. "We estimated the total value lost as $6,000 ? the total value of the car."

Libby Cook-Toppan, who lives at the top of S Hill, said she was alarmed when she smelled smoke as she stepped outside her house.

She said: "I could tell it was really close. I was convinced it was one of the Belco substations because there was a fire there several years ago ? but all of our power was on.

"I heard sirens. I could see black smoke pouring up and the smell of burning rubber was not nice."

Ms Cook-Toppan said she walked towards the fire and took pictures.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a car in the road on fire. The car was on his (the driver's) side of the road.

"He (the driver) didn't know what happened ? he just seemed stunned and was standing on the side watching the firefighters. His car had suddenly caught fire and he managed to jump out. He was an older man ? I would say he was a senior citizen.

"When I got there it was still on fire and they were having a problem putting it out. They eventually had to pry the hood off the front of the car. It wasn't an old car. It was completely gutted."

Mr. Pacheco said the cause of the blaze was not yet known.