Mom, kids escape car fire, lions

A mom and her two kids got more than they bargained for on a weekend outing to a safari park in Wiltshire, England when their van caught fire inside a lion enclosure.

“We went into the lion enclosure and it was very busy so we were stop start, stop start, and the car just overheated and what we thought was just steam coming out of it then turned to smoke,” Helen Clements told Sky News.

Clements said flames started to come into the car, so she honked the horn to alert the rangers, and then went to get out of the car, but the rangers were telling her to get back in because of the lions.

“We then thought we had better get out of the car, but obviously the rangers were saying get back in the car. Obviously for safety reasons,” Clements said. “It was very difficult to know what to do. Get in the car or get out the car. It was a little bit frightening, and obviously the children were frightened at the time.”

Rangers were able to come to the family’s rescue and get them into a ranger vehicle, according to CBS News.

Despite the frightening experience, Clements says she wants to return to the enclosure to see the lions again.

“I would like to go back and see the lions,” Clements said. “It wouldn’t put me off from going back. You can look back on it now and thank goodness we are all safe, but why did it have to be in the lion enclosure of all places.”

Sky News reported there were no injuries to people or any animals.

Contact Kira Terry at kterry@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kiraterry