Gisborne CFA extinguish cardboard box blaze outside supermarket
A HUGE pile of cardboard boxes caught on fire outside a Gisborne supermarket, sending flames metres into the air. But the quick-thinking actions of a truck driver kept the situation from becoming much worse.
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A TRUCK driver’s quick-thinking has saved his vehicle from going up in flames.
The recycling truck was emptying a load of cardboard at the Station Rd entrance to the Coles carpark in Gisborne yesterday morning when an employee alerted the driver to smoke coming from the rear of the truck.
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Upon further inspection, the rear hopper was found well-alight and the driver dumped the contents onto the road. A Coles employee knocked the flames down with an on-site fire hose reel until emergency services arrived.
Gisborne and Riddells Creek firefighters found the pile ablaze, directly under a set of power lines with flames leaping metres into the air directly underneath powerlines.
Emergency services restricted public access to the carpark due to concerns over air quality, forcing CFA members to wear breathing apparatus.
An advice message alerting the community of poor quality was issued via Emergency Management Victoria, and the Environment Protection Authority was notified.
CFA Incident Controller Lieutenant Henry Neal praised the truck driver’s quick-thinking.
“The driver did an amazing job under pressure to dump the burning contents out of the hopper,” he said.
“Because of that he has saved the truck and avoided a much more serious outcome.”
Firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the blaze, but the garbage truck was deemed unroadworthy by police and VicRoads and towed away.
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