Thousands of chickens killed in truck fire on South Eastern Freeway between Mt Barker and Hahndorf

Traffic is again flowing on the South Eastern Freeway after about 2000 chickens died in a truck fire this morning, causing congestion chaos for motorists driving to the city during the rush hour.

Traffic is diverted around the scene of the truck fire. Picture: Tait Schmaal

• The three options to get trucks off SE Freeway
• $12 million upgrade to the North-South freight route

About 2000 chickens have died in a truck fire on the South Eastern Freeway.

There were significant traffic delays for city-bound traffic between Mt Barker and Hahndorf for several hours as emergency services worked to clean and clear the scene. However, SA Police say traffic is now flowing for city-bound traffic.

Traffic is now flowing on the city bound tracks of the South-Eastern freeway near Hahndorf following the truck fire pic.twitter.com/vMX6roCsey

— South Australia Police (@SAPoliceNews) August 23, 2020

Police and fire crews were called to the Freeway downtrack after reports of a semi-trailer engulfed in flames just before 4.25am on Monday.

The truck, carrying about 4000 chickens, was well alight when firefighters arrived and took about 30 minutes to extinguish.

The crash scene is cleared up as freeway traffice was directed around it. Picture: Tait Schmaal

The driver was uninjured.

A lane was opened for city-bound trucks while all other traffic was diverted at Mt Barker and through Hahndorf on Old Barker Rd.

Motorists were able to re-enter the freeway after passing through Hahndorf.

A forklift removed containers of dead chickens from the charred truck as it continued to smoulder.

Crews have spent Monday morning cleaning the scene. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Animal welfare charity RSPCA moved surviving chickens to another truck.

Meanwhile, in other traffic news a car rolled on South Rd at Regency Park, near the Regency Park golf course this morning, reducing southbound traffic down to one lane. That road is also now clear.

The latest delay comes a month before work is expected to start on an upgrade to ease heavy truck traffic on the SE Freeway.

The $12 million upgrade to the North-South freight route between Murray Bridge and Annadale, bypassing Adelaide, is expected to start in September and should be completed by December.

Traffic delays starting to form on the SE Freeway. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

In July, traffic was at a crawl for several hours after a truck caught fire on the SE Freeway near the Mount Osmond exit.

And a jam in March took 6½ hours to clear after a chicken truck rolled over, blocking all three lanes on the downtrack from the Crafers turn-off.