Owanyilla fuel tanker fire: Bruce Highway reopens after 16-hour closure
A man has suffered “potentially life-threatening injuries” after his car rolled on the same section of the Bruce Highway where an explosive fuel tanker fire closed the road for 16 hours. LATEST.
A man has been seriously hurt after a vehicle rollover at Glenorchy, just hours after a petrol tanker fire shut down the same stretch of the Bruce Highway for 16 hours.
A spokeswoman from the Queensland Police Service said the incident happened about 10pm on Friday.
The spokeswoman said the car was off the road and the highway was still open.
A man in his 30s suffered “potentially life-threatening injuries”, according to the Queensland Ambulance Service, and was rushed to Hervey Bay Hospital.
While the highway had reopened, a QPS spokeswoman said the speed limit was currently reduced to 40km in the crash zone until the road could be inspected on Saturday.
Dozens of firefighters earlier fought the blazing fire on the Bruce Highway, after the petrol tanker carrying 48,000 litres of fuel ignited, leaving the major thoroughfare blocked.
The drama unfolded at Owanyilla between Tiaro and Maryborough on the Fraser Coast with the fire starting about 1.56am on Friday.
Police said a B Double with two fuel tanks attached exploded into flames.
An exclusion zone of 3km was set up by police under an emergency declaration but that was lifted around 5am as traffic was diverted around the crash site.
The truck had been carrying 20,000 litres of super and unleaded in the front tank and 28,000 litres of diesel in the rear tank.
Dozens of firefighters fought the blaze for hours, with at least four fire and rescue crews and four rural fire service crews on scene.
Police said the Bruce Highway was expected to be closed into the afternoon.
Just after 2pm, Queensland Fire Department inspector Kent Mayne said a specialist crew was still in the process of decanting the remaining fuel from the tanker.
He said the operation had been completed with the diesel fuel and was now being completed with the unleaded fuel.
The highway was still closed as the process was completed and fire crews remained at the scene to ensure the safety of everyone involved, he said.
Insp Mayne said the crash would be investigated by the police.
He said the firefighters who initially attended the scene had done a “really good job” of containing the fire and stopping it from spreading.
The main goal had been that everyone was safe and the fire didn’t spread. Insp Mayne said it was extremely lucky there had been no loss of life in the incident.
A truck was sent from Brisbane to help with the clean-up. The EPA was also sent to the scene as the clean-up continues.
Earlier, a Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said it took around two hours to get the fire “under control”.
Both fuel tanks were “completely burnt out”, and fuel was contained in parts of the trailer, which appeared to contribute to the severity of the fire.
In a post on their official Facebook page, a representative from the Bauple Rural Fire Brigade said they were one of the rural crews who responded to the incident and that the truck was “destroyed”.
“The fire was contained but the truck was destroyed, it was carrying flammable liquid but thankfully no loss of life.”
Queensland Ambulance Service said a man in his 30s was assessed with minor injuries and taken in a stable condition to Hervey Bay Hospital.
No structures or other vehicles were in danger, and the fire was able to be contained to the truck.
Authorities said trucks were “stranded” on the highway as they were unable to turn around.
The fuel tanker crash comes just eight days after two men tragically lost their lives in another early morning Wide Bay fuel tanker fire, which also left a major regional Queensland highway blocked for hours.
A fuel tanker and freight truck collided head-on on the D’Aguilar Hwy in Nukku, 4km west of Blackbutt, about 5.50am on Thursday, August 21.
Both drivers, 37-year-old Gympie man, George Burgess, and 50-year-old Adam Desmond Hopf, died on scene after suffering critical injuries.
The deadly collision prompted criticisms about the condition of the stretch of road where the accident occurred, which is rated just one star for safety.
