Impact to Bororen, Miriam Vale from Bruce Hwy explosion fatal crash
The eerie quiet in Bororen and Miriam Vale remains three days after a devastating fatal crash on the Bruce Highway which caused significant damage from a chemical explosion and closed Queensland’s number one road.
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The eerie quiet in Bororen and Miriam Vale remains three days after a devastating fatal crash on the Bruce Highway which caused significant damage from a chemical explosion and closed Queensland’s number one road.
The highway closed for the third time in a week after a truck carrying ammonium nitrate collided with a ute on Friday morning about 5am, spilt its load which then caught on fire and later caused a second tank of ammonium nitrate to explode.
The man killed in the Bruce Highway crash on Friday was a 21-year-old man from Koongal in Rockhampton.
A pub has closed its doors for the day while a grocery store is running low on fresh bread and milk and produce and others have either stayed home from work or taken the long detour to get to work in Gladstone or Boyne Island - a commute that will mean a three-hour round trip today and tomorrow.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads this morning announced it is working toward re-opening a minimum single lane on the Bruce Highway under traffic control by 11:55pm tomorrow, September 3.
Depending on damage assessment and the completion of remediation work, two lanes of access may be possible, a TMR spokesperson said.
Provisions have been made to facilitate access for emergency services until the highway officially reopens, as well as access for school bus services from Monday morning to ensure children can continue to attend school.
Meanwhile, The Morning Bulletin has been on the ground talking to local residents and business owners about the day of the horror crash, the state of the highway and the impact of the highway closure on the small community of about 700 people.
Long-term Bororen residents Heidi Peters and Lisa Toombs both live about a block away from the Bruce Hwy.
“You can hear the road (from my place),” Mrs Peters said.
“There’s damage on the road and once a truck hits it, you can hear it rattle.
“It really needs to be fixed.”
Ms Toombs has lived in Bororen for the past 13 years and Friday’s accident was the worst she can recall happening near where she has lived, both locally and in other areas she has lived in - the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba.
“It just looks like a bomb site... or a war zone,” she said.
Ms Toombs said she jokingly asked her sister if her brother-in-law had zip-tied their house back together after the blast as they lived in a house that is more than 100 years old.
Mrs Peters drives up to Calliope five days a week, from her home town which has a population of about 200 people, to help care for her grandchildren, aged eight and four.
She said the location where Friday’s crash occurred wasn’t a particularly bad patch of the Bruce.
Mrs Peters, who has lived in the same house for about 40 years, said last week there had been a lot of fog but drivers were still travelling at the 100km/hr speed limit in fog which obstructed their vision.
Bororen Hotel Motel owner Jeffrey ‘Macca’ Pengilly, a former truck driver, said there had been several crashes on the Bruce between the Tannum Sands turn off and Granite Creek in the past three months here.
“The road is substandard,” he said.
Mr Pengilly said one was a collision at the Daisy Dell Rd and Bruce Hwy intersection on June 12.
He listed the six truck and two ambulance accidents at Gindoran on Tuesday, August 27, the recent truck and ute crash, and a three vehicle crash near the Tannum Sands turn off on June 9 involving two trucks and car where a male truck driver sustained head, chest and leg injuries and was flown to Rockhampton Hospital in a stable condition, as examples.
Mr Pengilly said on top of last week’s fog, farmers were doing their usual spring controlled burns, so smoke was lingering in the hollows, adding to the motorist visibility issues caused by the fog.
“Then the next level, you have all these poor buggers driving trucks trying to make a living, under pressure... they’ve got to work to a timetable,” he said.
“I’ve been one (a truck driver).”
Mr Pengilly said when he drove trucks, he wouldn’t drive through the fog experienced in Bororen last week.
He said he would call his boss and tell them he would be late due to fog and rest.
“I’m not pushing the envelope for anybody,” Mr Pengilly.
Ms Toombs said she only found out about Friday’s accident after her son returned from the shops just after 9.30am.
She said he told her there had been another accident up the highway just moments before the explosion which left a crater in the ground next to the road.
“All of a sudden there was this almighty boom and this big mushroom (smoke),” Ms Toombs said.
She said they got the pets inside so they couldn’t be harmed from the chemical remnants blowing from the explosion and also being carried by the wind.
Ms Toombs said after emergency services and the stranded travellers left Bororen, there was less noise around.
“It’s weird,” she said.
“It’s just so quiet. It’s eerie... because of the lack of traffic going through town (or trains on the rail track).
“I’ve never heard it that quiet before.”
It was only recently that Mrs Peters lost her best friend, who was also Ms Toombs’ friend, in a fatal crash on the Bruce.
“I’m still getting over it,” Mrs Peters said.
Mrs Peters said every single crash in the region since then reminds her of the terrible day she found out her friend had died, “especially if there are lives lost” she went on to say.
“I was up at my daughter’s place that day and my husband was had come up to take over so I could have a day off,” she said.
“I was driving home and I got north of Bororen and the road’s closed.”
Mrs Peters said she saw a car coming from the opposite direction and she jumped out to ask what had happened and found out there had been a serious accident.
She said she decided to turn around and go back to her daughter’s home.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for two pubs in the Bruce Hwy crater zone in the past three days.
For Bororen Hotel Motel staff, Friday was chaos with emergency services and evacuees dealing with the horror fatal crash and chemical explosion.
“I opened on Friday,” Mr Pengilly said.
“I knew it wouldn’t be a profitable day, (but) I had an obligation to the locals and they supported me on Friday.
“They couldn’t go to work, so they sat down, had a beer and ate a few things.
“Then the coppers came over and got a soft drink and then the firies had dinner here and the police had their dinner here.”
Mr Pengilly said Friday ended up being about half of the business the pub usually does.
But Saturday and Sunday were a completely different story.
Both towns are usually busy on the weekends with the usual 4000 vehicles per day travelling the Bruce, plus the Gladstone region weekend traffic moving between Gladstone and Tannum Sands to Agnes Water and 1770.
However, the empty highway and rest stop was a clear indicator of how different it was.
Although Mr Pengilly has 12 motel rooms, only one was used on Saturday night, and that was all for the entire weekend.
He also had 100 bookings for Father’s Day lunch on Sunday, but no one made it for their booking.
Meanwhile, Miriam Vale Hotel Motel owner Mitch Brennan had the usual busy Friday night with all the normal local crowd but his Saturday trade was abysmal.
“Saturday was horrendous,” he told The Morning Bulletin.
Mr Brennan said there were only a handful of people for lunch and about 20 for dinner compared to the normal 50 or more for lunch and even more for dinner.
However, by Sunday morning, the almost 500 people who live in Miriam Vale plus those that live in Bororen, Agnes Water and 1770 flocked to a Father’s Day market and breakfast at the pub, along with popping into local general grocer The Store for supplies or other local businesses who had opened their doors that morning.
“I was expecting a crowd (after the explosion), but I didn’t think it would be this big,” Mr Brennan said.
He said he expected to cater for 50 people for breakfast and by 10am, they had served 127 people breakfast already.
On Monday, a TMR spokesperson said the highway remained closed for now and road closures are in place at Wadeleigh Street in Bororen township (northbound) and just south of the Turkey Beach Road intersection (southbound).
TMR took possession of site at 9am on Sunday, September 1.
“Clean-up activities began shortly after, with significant progress made in removal of contaminated material covering the highway as a result of the explosion,” the spokesperson said.
“Inspections of road and culvert infrastructure are well underway.
“All major and minor culverts have been inspected and cleared of any damage.”
A spokesperson said the environmental and cultural heritage inspections have been undertaken and clearance confirmed.
“Three large trees have been identified as damaged as a result of the crash and pose a safety risk,” they said.
“There will be removed and stored on site for future fauna habitat.
“Prior to any tree removal, a fauna expert will conduct a pre-clearance inspection of all trees to be removed.
“The fauna specialist will remain on site during the work to conduct a post-felling inspection of each tree.”
Trenches have been excavated along the Bruce Highway within the blast zone, in order to test pavements.
“TMR is currently awaiting these pavement test results,” they said.
“Ground Penetrating Radar testing commenced Sunday afternoon, and continued into Sunday night to assist with pavement assessment and to provide confirmation on when the Bruce Highway can be safely opened.”
Diversions are currently in place for heavy and light vehicles as follows:
Heavy Vehicles detour:
Booyal-Dallarnil Road north of Childers
Booyal-Dallarnil towards Biggenden (Isis Highway) towards Ban Ban Springs
Ban Ban Springs to Monto via Burnett Highway in Monto township –– use Flinders Street at Kennedy Street, Mill Road, Lister Street and Burnett Highway
Monto to Biloela via Burnett Highway
Biloela to Calliope via Dawson Highway
Light Vehicles detour:
North of Gin-Gin at Gin-Gin–Mount Perry Rd towards Mount Perry
Mount Perry to Monto via Monto–Mt Perry Road (at Burnett Highway) - closure of a section of Monto-Mt Perry Road due to roadworks - alternate route in place via Kerwee Road.
Monto to Biloela via Burnett Highway
Biloela to Calliope via Dawson Highway
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