Fire crews battle rubbish blaze on Pacific Pde, Bilinga

Fire crews have been called to a second rubbish truck fire, just hours after dealing with a blaze in Bilinga. MORE DETAILS

A Gold Coast City Council rubbish truck tipping a burning load of refuse onto Pacific Pde, Bilinga. Picture: Facebook

Fire crews were on Thursday called out to a second rubbish truck fire, just hours after battling a blaze in Bilinga.

The Queensland Fire Department (QFD) were called to Pacific Pde and George St in Bilinga at 9.10am after a Gold Coast City Council rubbish truck tipped a burning load of refuse onto the street.

A spokesperson for QFD said a bobcat had been requested to help “separate the rubbish” in an attempt to put the fire out.

A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson said the rubbish in the truck had been dumped to enable fire crews to attend and extinguish the burning materials.

They confirmed at 11.40am that a clean-up had commenced and said services would return to normal as soon as possible.

Emergency crews were called to the second incident at 12.20pm on Thursday on Bienvenue Dr in Currumbin Waters.

A spokesperson for the QFD said a small area of rubbish which was on fire had been dumped on the road with one fire crew extinguishing it at about 1pm.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.

The cause of the fires are being investigated, with Mayor Tom Tate congratulating the Bilinga truck driver for his fast thinking and warning people to be careful with their rubbish.

“Anything flammable should not go in the garbage,” he said.

“Just take it to the tip, they have a section there where you can put the flammable parts.

“The council officer did the right thing to dump the load and at least it is contained.”

Gold Coast City Council issued a reminder to avoid disposing any flammable materials such as paint thinners, any types of battery including lithium batteries, and other flammable items that can create sparks and ignite material in waste collection trucks.