Truck carrying chemicals explodes into flames south of Gladstone on Bruce Highway
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Steven Miles to fix the Bruce Highway which is set to be closed for days after a chemical truck blew up in a horror fatal crash.
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A notorious section of the Bruce Highway resembles a rubble-strewn war zone and will be closed for days after a chemical truck blew up in a horror fatal crash, prompting furious calls for funding to be prioritised to fix the state’s major transport route.
The tragedy just after 5am on Friday at Bororen was one of three fatal crashes on the highway this week alone - including a man in his 50s who died less than two hours later northwest of Rockhampton, and a truckie who died after an horrific crash at Miriam Vale on Tuesday.
The spate of deaths in the week since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hinted at The Courier-Mail’s Bush Summit of a long-term multibillion-dollar commitment to “finish” the highway have reignited calls for the length of the Bruce to be upgraded to dual carriageway.
It also prompted Queensland Premier Steven Miles to declare ahead of Mr Albanese’s expected visit to the Sunshine State today that he would lobby for the 80:20 funding split between the federal government and state government for road infrastructure to be reinstated after it was controversially dropped to 50:50.
Major supermarkets warned of delays getting goods to some stores as Transport and Main Roads confirmed the highway would not reopen until at least Monday, and it was understood there was difficulty with trucks getting pharmaceuticals through to northern parts of the state.
On Friday in response to the crash, Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said road safety on the Bruce Highway was fundamental, and was going to take a collective response to reduce the road toll.
“We’re working closely with the Queensland Government and I have asked that they bring forward proposals to accelerate safety works, with the Commonwealth funding commitments made as well as future priorities for the budget process,” she said.
“Road funding is not just about the quantity of the investment, it’s also about making targeted investments to ensure maximum effectiveness, and we’re getting this done.
“There is more to be done, and we will continue to work with the Queensland Government and the community on areas they deem a priority to create a better Bruce Highway.”
The section of road where the crash happened only has a two-star safety rating.
Police have confirmed one person, the driver of the ute in the head-on collision 5km north of Bororen was killed.
The highway is set to be closed until at least Monday and a 2.5km exclusion zone is in place on either side of the crash which forced the evacuation of Bororen south of Gladstone.
Gladstone Region Mayor Matt Burnett said the Bruce Highway was likely to be closed for days.
“There has been significant disruption to the Bruce Highway all day, and that will continue, probably for a couple of days while there’s a clean up in place,” he said.
“It’s still being assessed but it’s at least days and I don’t know exactly how long that’ll be.
“Obviously between councils operations teams and Main Roads they’ll be looking at getting that open as soon as possible.”
A Transport and Main Roads spokesman confirmed the Bruce Highway will not reopen until at least Monday.
“Following a significant crash occurred on the Bruce Highway at Bororen in the vicinity of Atkinson Road, diversions are now in place,” he said.
“The Department of Transport and Main Roads is currently undertaking incident management and supporting Queensland Police Service while it oversees the crash site.
“The Bruce Highway is not expected to be reopened over the weekend.”
Separate detours remain in place for heavy and light vehicles for the next 48 hours.
Firefighters said a B-double truck was carrying 42.5 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in the crash at 5.13am.
Just after 9.40am, the damage caused by the earlier fire, resulted in a major explosion.
Police said the blast radius was 500m.
Miraculously, there were no injuries as a result of the explosion.
Firefighters are continuing to extinguish spot fires.
Mackay District Officer Acting Superintendent Mark Burgess said the first call about the crash came in about 5.13am.
Supt Burgess said the driver of the ute was yet to be identified.
An emergency alert was issued to neighbouring residents, and a police door knocked the area with 49 people self-evacuating to the town of Bororen.
“From an investigation perspective, this will take time … clearing the scene will take time and no doubt require in depth review and assessment by the appropriate agencies,” Supt Burgess said.
Supt Burgess said road diversions were in place, some with only light vehicle access.
“We are asking motorists to stay away from that area, where they can adjust their plans, they should do so,” he said.
“We anticipate the (Bruce Highway) will be closed for sometime and we’ll be diverting a lot of that highway traffic through the western corridors.”
Supt Burgess said the state of the highway at the scene of the crash was yet to be fully assessed.
“I have seen some footage of the area that’s a little bit difficult to observe the extent of damage there,” he said.
“The roadway at this stage, that’s probably secondary to what we’re trying to achieve at the moment, it’s about putting the fires out so they’re rendering the scene completely safe and trying to get people back into their homes as quickly as possible.”
Supt Burgess said road conditions at the time would be central to crash investigation including whether there was fog.
“It is very early to speculate. Certainly, we have had localised fog over the last week … and we have had a number of unfortunate incidents on the highway,” he said.
Cr Burnett said his heart sank upon hearing of another fatality on the highway.
“There have been a lot of accidents on that stretch of road in the last couple of weeks, so it’s certainly been a horror stretch,” he said.
“It’s always terribly sad when someone loses their life.
“We are, though, very fortunate that there wasn’t more loss of life because of the dangerous cargo that the truck was carrying.”
Cr Burnett said incidents like the crash reignited conversations about the safety of the Bruce Highway.
“As a Mayor of the local region, we’d love to see the Bruce Highway dual carriageway all the way but I also understand … budget pressures for state and federal governments,” he said.
“We always put our bids forward and we were fortunate enough to secure some funding for the section of road between Gladstone and Rockhampton, but this section of road (where the crash occurred) is equally as important, obviously.
“I understand at this stage you’re not going to get dual carriageway for the whole length of the Bruce anytime soon, but if they can look at some of these sorts of areas, and invest money into them, we would certainly welcome it.”
Cr Burnett said the unsealed Blackmans Gap Road would need to be used for local diversion after the crash but it, like a lot of other alternatives, were not equipped to take highway traffic.
“It means that the trucking movements are going to have to take a significantly longer trip,” he said.
Premier Steven Miles said he would lobby the federal government for the 80:20 funding split to be reinstated following the several fatalities on the highway in recent weeks.
“My thoughts are with every person who has been impacted by road trauma this year, and every year,” he said.
“The Bruce Highway is the backbone of our state, and I will never stop investing to make it safer and more resilient.
“And I will continue to call on the Australian Government to reinstate 80:20 funding for our critical regional roads, like the Bruce.”
The Premier also committed to following up any road upgrades that emerged from police investigations into the recent deaths.
“There are 16 major upgrades under construction right now, 27 in design and a further 19 in planning,” he said.
“These are upgrades informed and prioritised by the experts.
“If there are improvements that can be made following police investigations into recent incidents, we will always listen and do what matters.”
He urged all Queenslanders to drive with safety “front of mind”.
FIRIES REVEAL HOW SECONDARY BLAST HAPPENED
Firefighters explained how the second blast occurred.
“Normally, that type of chemical is stable. It’s always stable to be transported. However, once it was involved in a vehicle accident and an impending fire heated up one of the vessels, and then the pressure vessel, in time, unfortunately exploded,’’ Queensland Fire Department Superintendent Brad Stockwell said.
“We were very lucky that none of the residents or houses within that vicinity were impacted, and we had no injuries from the explosion.’’
He said the fire had weakened the integrity of the protective structures within the tanker.
“(That) increases the internal chemical combustion.’’
“Ammonium nitrate, by itself, does not burn, but it can excessively increase the rate of combustion and the blast radius would have been the shockwave in any of the debris, which would have obviously come from the integrity of that cylinder disrupting.’’
“Reports at this stage that there’s no damage to any residential dwellings or individuals.”
He said that was due to the great work of the first responders and all those involved in the emergency operation.
The explosion did, however, result in spot fires.
“We have Rural Fire Service staff down there at the moment assisting to mitigate that. And we also have an air asset in regards to a helicopter that’s providing water bombing capabilities within that area.”
Members of the public were asked not to deploy drones with it remaining a declared emergency zone.
TRAIN SERVICES CANCELLED
Train services south of Gladstone have been cancelled and lines suspended along a 30km stretch between Iveragh to Bororen.
According to the Queensland Rail website, trains including the Rockhampton tilt train service are not running.
Coach replacement services are running from Bundaberg to Brisbane.
“Due to a motor vehicle incident, (the Tilt train) that departed Rockhampton at 6.45am on Friday 30 August 2024 has terminated at Gladstone,” the website states.
“Queensland Rail Travel has arranged road coaches for customers travelling from Bundaberg to Brisbane (Roma St).”
“This is impacting our Spirit of Queensland lines and our Bundaberg to Rockhampton tilt train,” A QR spokesman said.
“We currently have railway replacement buses in place between Bundaberg and Brisbane and we will have a tilt train running from Bundaberg to Brisbane tomorrow.”
It’s understood overhead powerlines are also impacted.
However, the extent of damage to the train track would not be known until the exclusion zone is lifted and a team is allowed in the area to inspect.
Just 15 minutes after an emergency alert was issued on Friday, a large explosion sent shockwaves through the area at 9.45am Friday.
Emergency crews first arrived at the scene of the head-on crash between a B-double carrying ammonium nitrate and a ute about 5.30am.
BYSTANDERS PULLED TRUCKIE FROM CRASH
Queensland Ambulance Service Acting Senior Operations Supervisor John Hodson-Gilmore said bystanders were able to pull the truck driver, who had suffered abdominal, leg and head injuries, from the cabin before it ignited.
The truck driver was airlifted by rescue helicopter to Bundaberg hospital.
Koorawatha Homestead Motel owner Craig Gibbs, who only bought the business 12 weeks ago, said he was on a lawnmower when the explosion from the crash rocked the property, which is only 3km south from the scene.
“It was a massive rumble, like one you would see when you watch the news and see all the bombs exploding in war torn countries,” he said.
“We were all nervous.
“We had staff in the kitchen here, and they thought something had smashed outside.
“Our housekeepers came running out thinking, ‘what the hell’s going on?’”
Mr Gibbs said while was outside the 2km exclusion zone, he had to cancel 14 bookings for Friday night and it was unclear when guests would return.
But he said the motel would stay open and also assist with any evacuees as needed.
He said the loss of life was a much higher cost.
“It’s a couple of days of revenue for me, but someone lost someone this morning, so there’s a lot worse off than me,” he said.
Mr Gibbs, who is also the managing director of Australian Relief Management, said his company had travelled all over the country and said the state of the Bruce Highway was “atrocious”.
“You are on a highway and you do expect these things (crashes) to happen,” he said.
“I’ve done the Newell and the Pacific highways in New South Wales.
“That state can do it (upgrades), why can’t we up here.
“I don’t understand, it’s just very poor governance over decades, simply as that.”
Mr Hodson-Gilmore said that via aerial footage from police, crews could see that initially, the rear tanker on the B-double which was carrying the larger amount of ammonium nitrate was on fire and leaking its contents onto the road and that trailer was largely “burnt to the ground”.
While the front tanker was not yet damaged at the time, it was close to the fire so firefighters decided not to approach and the exclusion zones were established.
Fifteen minutes later, the small tanker exploded with the shock felt as far as Gladstone.
HOUSE SHOOK IN CALLIOPE FROM SHOCKWAVE
Many also posted on Facebook about hearing and feeling a large bang during the second explosion.
“I heard the bang and thought a car had run into my house in Gladstone. I hope everyone is OK,” Heather Gourlay wrote.
Karen Fraser said she hoped there was “some highway left now” after the noise in Burua.
Melissa Young wrote “it went boom” within minutes of police posting the emergency alert while Sean Taaffe said, “the house shook in Calliope from what sounded like a shockwave from an explosion”.
Mr Hodson-Gilmore said the Bruce Hwy between Bororen and Tannum Sands would be closed for “quite an extended period of time”.
“There is a large explosion site,” he said.
“That explosion has possibly damaged part of the highway and there’s significant debris across the highway for 50km.”
According to the Queensland Police Service advice, residents within the exclusion zone are to leave and not return until it has been made safe.
“If you cannot leave, shelter indoors, and close your windows and doors, and turn off your air-conditioning,’’ the advice said.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE WARNING
In a post, the Miriam Vale Hotel reflected on what’s been a horror week for the region. “We have had some people in the hotel that said Blackmans Gap Road is bumper to bumper and there has been an accident there as well,” the post read. “The back road consists of dirt and ranges and is not suitable for caravans.” If you need to head south, please consider taking the road to Biloela and head south through Monto.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people involved directly or indirectly and all the emergency personnel that have done a fantastic job in what has been an horrific week.
“Locally we have had a horror week on our roads.” Please stay safe out there.“
QCWA Miriam Vale, Bororen and District posted that its hall was open to travellers and offering tea, coffee and cold drinks. “Come and say hello if you have been stranded in town,” it said.
One motorist trying to get through to Bundaberg said when he felt the shockwave and heard the boom he was worried about the emergency services on the scene.
The Bruce Highway is expected to be closed all day and possible for many days to come.
There were unconfirmed reports there was about 40 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in the truck.
Gladstone Pet Resort employee Vicki Parker said there was fog on Turkey Beach Rd on Friday morning about the time of the crash.
She said she could also smell smoke lingering from recent hazard reduction controlled burns.
The crash happened between Daisy Dell Road and Turkey Beach Road.
Queensland Ambulance said the male truck driver had suffered significant leg injuries including several fractures.
Police said all the trucks which had been stopped at the site had been turned around.
State Emergency Service volunteers were diverting traffic at Tannum Sands.
Residents travelling the area posted a detour which Google Maps suggested which would take about two and half hours from north of Gin Gin to Calliope.
But locals warned the route was dangerous and not suitable for heavier traffic.
Earlier, a Queensland Fire Department spokeswoman said they also had multiple crews on scene working to put out the horror vehicle fires.
Further north, there are grave fears for a driver after a vehicle ran off the road and crashed into a tree on the Bruce Highway northwest of Rockhampton about 6:20am.
This week has been horror run for truck drivers on the Bruce Highway in the Central Queensland area with heavy fog and smoke, together with the state of the Bruce Highway, being blamed for crashes.
A 29-year-old truck driver has died after he was caught up in a series of catastrophic crashes which shutdown the Bruce Highway from Tuesday to Wednesday morning. About 1.50am August 27, a truck crashed near Granite Creek Forestry Road at Gindoran between Bundaberg and Gladstone.
Queensland Trucking Association CEO Gary Mahon said “a lot of people underestimate the scale of what is going on with road freight every single day” and how a hold up of 24 hours made a difference to the “replenishment of supermarkets and other consumer goods, imports and exports, produce to markets and into communities”.
Up to 30 trucks were queued at Gindoran following the three crashes involving six B-doubles and two ambulances and countless others had to find a way to their destinations outside the near-100km highway stretch which was closed from Gin Gin to Miriam Vale during the shutdown.
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