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Dramatic Escape: Father and son try to drive through raging wildfire

A man and his son made a dramatic attempt to escape a raging wildfire in Montana and they captured it on video.

SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – A man and his son made a dramatic attempt to escape a raging wildfire in Montana, and they captured it on video.

The two men tried driving to safety as the inferno raged through the forest all around them before a fallen tree forced them to turn around.

Justin Milton and his dad, Charlie, were inside Glacier National Park when the Howe Ridge Fire exploded last week. The two made a mad dash in their car to escape. A cellphone camera was rolling as the flames raged around them.

As the two drove the fire raged on all around them. Charlie tried to calm his son as they made their way through a mountain path.

Charlie: You can’t see. Just go easy now. Easy!”

Justin: Dad, the car is heating up. It’s gonna explode!”

Charlie: “We are alright.”

Justin: “Jesus God, help us.”

Charlie said he feared for his life as black smoke and flames surrounded the pair. He admitted he had never seen anything like that before. “To see flames that big and for that far was absolutely terrifying. It was unearthly. It was like a driving into hell,” he said.

At one point, a fallen tree blocked their back. In the video, you can hear the exact moment the pair came to the realization their only way out was longer an option.

"Once we got to that down tree, you know my heart just dropped and that's when I felt we were dead. I thought there was no way we'd get back up through what we'd just come through."

Justin was able to put the car in reverse and drove back to their lake side campsite.

Justin and his father were able to make it out unharmed after flagging down a boat. Father and son escaped unharmed, but their car was destroyed. “I just know that we were lucky. Maybe there is some higher power that was a purpose for me and my dad here,” said Justin.

The fire is not expected to be contained until November.

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