Dramatic images as fire engulfs truck on Pacific Highway south of Grafton

Highway closed well into early hours after a possible brake failure engulfed a B-double carrying a timber load. See the dramatic images here.

It took fire trucks from five different locations more than an hour to put a fire out on a B-double truck yesterday evening.

Incident controller for Fire Rescue NSW 307 South Grafton Paul Danvers said emergency services responded to a call that a B-double had its tyres on fire on the Pacific Highway.

The truck was travelling south just north of the Glenugie on-ramp, and by the time emergency services arrived, the truck was completely alight.

Emergency services on the scene of a fire that engulfed a B-double truck carrying timber on the Pacific Highway north of Glenugie on Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes of the highway were blocked well into the next morning as salvage crews worked to clear the wreckage. Photos courtesy: Fire Rescue NSW

“We had two trucks from Coffs Harbour, a truck from Woolgoolga, our truck from South Grafton and a Hazmat from Grafton, as well as a special compressed air foam system pumper from Urunga on the scene,” Mr Danvers said.

“We had two crews in breathing apparatus with hose extinguishing the fire, while the foam was sprayed into the A-trailer of the truck which was loaded with timber that was on fire.”

Mr Danvers also praised the many RFS units that came to assist with the firefighting effort.

Emergency services on the scene of a fire that engulfed a B-double truck carrying timber on the Pacific Highway north of Glenugie on Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes of the highway were blocked well into the next morning as salvage crews worked to clear the wreckage. Photos courtesy: Fire Rescue NSW

“We couldn’t have done it without their water tanker – they supplied about 10,000 litres to us as well as the firefighting they did,” he said.

The blaze took more than an hour to get under control for firefighters, who then had to deal with the fuel on-board the truck before a salvage could be made.

“It turned into a Hazmat incident then, with 800 litres of fuel in the truck tanks that had to be decanted by a specialist crew in breathing apparatus,” he said.

“The fire had melted the aluminium on the ends of the tank, and there was no way to salvage the vehicle with emptying them first.”

Emergency services on the scene of a fire that engulfed a B-double truck carrying timber on the Pacific Highway north of Glenugie on Wednesday afternoon. The southbound lanes of the highway were blocked well into the next morning as salvage crews worked to clear the wreckage. Photos courtesy: Fire Rescue NSW

The driver of the truck escaped the blaze unharmed, and he reported he believed the fire started in the tyres due to a failure in the brake system.

Both southbound lanes of the Pacific Highway were closed due to the incident, with police and Transport for NSW diverting traffic via Tyndale through Grafton.

Salvage crews worked late into the night to retrieve the wreckage of the truck and clear the highway to be reopened.