Wildfires have been sweeping across European Russia in recent days prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. A recently released video shows how the fast moving blazes can turn a relatively calm situation into a desperate flight – and flight – for life in the face of advancing flames.

The video, released on YouTube, shows volunteers that went to the village of Tamboles to assist residents finding themselves instead in need of help.

The translated caption for the video explains that the vehicle’s occupants passed along the same road a half hour before and there was no hint of the fire. When they went to return, they were surrounded by flames as trees and brush burned around them and they were confronted with walls of flame.

Listening to the audio in the video one does not have to speak Russian to understand the desperateness of the situation they are in. Amazingly enough, the vehicle and its occupants survived their fiery journey.