Two people on westbound U.S. 26 narrowly escaped a car fire on Wednesday after their Kia went up in flames near the Oregon Zoo offramp.

The incident happened around 11 a.m. after a mechanical problem caused an engine compartment fire and shut down the car’s brakes, Portland Fire & Rescue said in a statement.

The driver steered into a slope next to the road to slow the car down, allowing the driver and passenger to jump out of the moving vehicle, the fire bureau said.

Officials didn’t publicly identify the two people who were in the car, but said that they sustained “surprisingly minor injuries” despite their situation.

The flaming car set fire to the surrounding vegetation on the side of the road after it finally came to a stop, but firefighters were able to extinguish both the car and

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