A woman escaped from a car moments before it caught fire in Townsville, North Queensland, this afternoon.

Firefighters were called to The Strand at 3:00pm and found a black SUV engulfed in flames.

The blaze was extinguished within minutes, but the car was completely destroyed.

Parts of Queensland are sweltering through a severe heatwave and the mercury in Townsville had reached at 31 degrees Celsius at the time of the fire.

A woman at the scene said her daughter was driving the vehicle and parked it on the side of the road after she noticed smoke coming through the air-conditioning vents.

A Queensland Ambulance spokesperson said the driver escaped before the SUV erupted in flames.

A white sedan parked beside the SUV was significantly damaged by the fire. 

The front right tyre of the car melted and the side panels were scorched. 

Paramedics did not attend to any patients at the scene.

Queensland Police confirmed the fire was not suspicious.