A teenage girl summoned almost superhuman strength to lift a burning truck off her father.

Eric Heffelmire's truck fell on top of him and ignited as he tried to fix it in the garage of his family's home in the US state of Washington last November.

But his 19-year-old daughter Charlotte - who is 5ft 6in and weighs just eight stone - came to his rescue, hoisting the truck from on top of her father.

The teenager - who is a US Air Force Academy student - then climbed in to the burning vehicle and drove it "on its three remaining wheels" away from the house before it exploded.

She then rushed to get her grandmother and baby niece out of the house as the fire raged in the garage.

Reported cases of "superhuman" strength have often been attributed to adrenaline and the effect it has on the body.

She suffered burns to her hands and feet and an injury to her back but escaped relatively unscathed.

"I kind of came into the garage and the garage was already on fire and really from there I kind of snapped into that whatever super mode I had at that point and kind of do what I had to do, the teenager told Fox News.

Miss Heffelmire received a Citizen Life Saving Award from the local fire department last week but she told Fox News that she still does not believe she deserves the accolade.

They almost made me believe that I deserved it, but I still dont think that I do.

Describing the moment his daughter saved his life, Mr Heffelmire told NBC Washington: "The minute the jack slipped, there was an almost instantaneous, real strong smell of gasoline, and then just, whoosh!

"We had a bunch of propane containers and they were cooking off -- just fireballs.

"I felt the weight shift, and I said, 'You almost got it,' and then it was just UGHHHHHHRRR, and suddenly I'm pulled out."

He believes his daughter deserves her award and "much more".