The man was hospitalized with severe burns, but no one else was injured in the Thursday incident, Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford told reporters.

"The whole thing happened very quickly," he said.

Officers first noticed the man, allegedly in his 60s, when he parked his car in the driveway of the Merrylands police station in western Sydney. When an officer approached the car, the driver started a fire with him inside.

Clifford said the man likely used an accelerant, possibly gasoline, to help start the fire.

The attacker then tried to drive into the front of the building before crashing into a roller garage door under the station.

"Police have been very heroic in what they have done approaching this car that was alight with fuel inside," Clifford said from the scene. "They extinguished the fire as they pulled the unconscious man from the vehicle."

Clifford also said it was "a miracle" no one else was hurt.

No apparent terror link

A bomb squad was also deployed to examine the remains of the car.

The authorities were still trying to establish the driver's identity, but there was "nothing to indicate that this is in any way related to terrorism," he added.

"We just don't know why this person has acted this way."

Some Australian media reported that the man was believed to be mentally ill.

Australia has suffered several terror strikes in recent years, including a siege of a Sydney café that claimed the lives of two hostages in 2014.

(DW)