That must have been an exciting few minutes!
Actually they were very...very...very lucky and not for the reasons One would immediately assume.
We had a rash of C Model's with the L-11 Engine without Shot Peened Power Turbine Wheels....that when the Turbines came apart tried to saw the aircraft in half and while doing so....severed the Main Fuel Lines which had (if memory serves me right) about 430 PSI shoving lots of Jet Fuel through some very big Lines. To say that creates a very large fire instantaneously is some understatement.
One aircraft was about 300 feet off the ground and burnt in half before it hit.
For a while we had what we called C- versions....that were retrofitted with L-7C engines which the upgraded A's and regular B's used. That was a very good engine.