A car destroyed by fire is shown along Highway 13 this morning, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (Jill Kasparie/The Gazette-KCRG)

A man narrowly escaped a car fire during the Thursday morning commute.

The man was driving along Highway 13 when smoke started pouring out of the engine compartment. Marion Fire officials said he coasted to a stop, and he had to crawl out a window because his car doors jammed up and wouldn’t open.

The Marion Fire Department arrived on scene at around 7:45 a.m. to find the car engulfed in flames. Crews shut down the southbound lanes of the highway just outside of Marion for about 10 minutes, while they extinguished the fire.

No one was injured. Fire officials said the driver was the only person in the vehicle and that he was lucky to have escaped unharmed.