THE owners of a car had a very lucky escape on Friday, getting out before it became engulfed in flames.

Emergency services were called to Stewart Street, just past the Browning Street intersection, at around 11am to respond to reports of a vehicle on fire.

When they arrived, the car was engulfed in flames and two firefighters wearing air suits had to carefully extinguish the blaze.

Bathurst Fire and Rescue NSW station officer Chris Sanders said they got the fire under control very quickly.

"We had it under control in about two minutes, but it took a while longer to get it fully extinguished," he said.

Motorists were praised for their behaviour while crews responded. A small portion of Stewart Street was cordoned off, which affected traffic.

"We had the lane blocked off with our fire trucks so no one could get through and police were there pretty quickly as well and helped control traffic," station officer Sanders said.

The incident was not suspicious, with the station officer saying that it appeared to be an electrical fire.

"A lady had just arrived home in her car and felt that something didn't feel right," he said.

"She got her husband out and by time he had opened the bonnet the engine bay was well alight."

EARLIER...

Traffic is affected on the Mid Western Highway after a car fire on the outskirts of Bathurst.

Police and firefighters are at the scene, where the fire is no longer burning, but the partially blackened vehicle is by the side of the road.

Officers are directing traffic at the corner of Browning and Stewart streets and traffic coming into the city on the Mid Western Highway is being affected.

The cause of the fire is not known.