Military vehicle crashes into Sarina Ampol petrol station

The female army driver responsible for getting a truck stuck in a Queensland petrol station had a new container on the back. But was signage the issue?

You didn’t need jetfuel to bend these steel beams, a monster-sized military vehicle tearing through the roof did the job just fine. Picture: Facebook

The female driver who crashed a military vehicle into a Queensland service station reportedly wasted no time fessing up to what has become a very public whoopsie broadcast across the nation.

The Australian Defence Force vehicle was accidentally battle-tested when the cabin was driven under the awning only for the body of the truck to become stuck, crumpling the awning like it was an unwanted scrap of paper. It has since been removed.

“The driver’s fine, she was just embarrassed more than anything ... I reckon she’s going to be copping a fair bit of heat,” a first responder, who asked not to be named, told the Daily Mercury.

“To her credit, she took responsibility and said, ‘Yup, my mistake’.”

The responder said the truck typically would have fit under the awning but on that occasion, it had a different container on the back.

“The other thing is, there’s no signage at that end of the (service station) building showing the height limit,” he said.

An Ampol spokesman denied a lack of signage, noting a height clearance warning on the awning, which may have been destroyed in the crash.

A military vehicle has destroyed an Ampol service station in Sarina, Queensland on May 14, 2024. Picture: Facebook

It is unclear which unit the vehicle was attached to.

A police spokeswoman confirmed paramedics and officers attended, and no one was injured.

The structure of the building, along with two petrol pumps suffered “significant damage”, they said, adding there was no risk of fuel leaks.

A military vehicle has destroyed an Ampol service station in Sarina, Queensland on May 14, 2024. Picture: Facebook

The truck has since been removed with Ergon Energy tasked to shut down the power at the site.

A Department of Defence spokesperson said the vehicles were travelling from Brisbane to Townsville for Exercise Vigilant Scimitar.

This isn’t the first stuck truck in the Mackay region in the past month, and follows from an excavator getting stuck under a Peak Downs Highway overpass, which will cost tens of millions to fix.

A redevelopment plan for the service station was lodged in January 2023, which would have required it to be demolished.