An Australian man is counting his blessings after narrowly escaping injury when his ute was struck by lightning and burst into flames on a rural New South Wales road.

Michael Sier, 57, was driving home from a job on Sunday afternoon when he found himself in the middle of a sudden lightning storm. Speaking with Yahoo News Australia, the tradesman recounted the terrifying moment just after he’d commented to himself about the deteriorating weather. “It just whacked the roof of the car, and I thought all four tyres blew up, or an elephant landed on me,” he said.

What actually hit him was a bolt of lightning. While Michael thankfully felt no electric shock, chaos immediately followed – his horn began to blare, the lights flickered wildly, and the cab filled with smoke.

He leapt out of the ute, only to discover the doors had automatically locked. “I then saw flames coming from the dash, and it was then that I started to panic a bit,” he told Yahoo. “It was just unbelievable.”

Determined to save his tools, Michael smashed a window and managed to pull out what he could before the fire engulfed the vehicle. Moments later, the ute was consumed by flames.

His daughter, Jessi, later shared her shock and relief on Facebook, writing:

“Dad definitely sung a high note yesterday after the roof of his ute was struck by lightning. He quickly pulled over with a smoky engine & enough time to grab a few things before the ute was up in flames! A few angels in the sky looking out for him, very lucky man.”

Michael filmed the smouldering wreck from a safe distance, capturing thick plumes of black smoke pouring into the sky. “Here’s me old ute, struck by lightning,” he can be heard saying. “She’s about buggered.”

The NSW Rural Fire Service confirmed the blaze was caused by a lightning strike, with eight firefighters and four trucks dispatched to the scene near Cooma.

“It was definitely lightning,” Michael said, before joking, “Can’t say I had any bombs on me at the time.”

Despite losing his vehicle, Michael escaped without injury – a fact that’s left both him and his family incredibly thankful.