‘Fully engulfed’: Highway blaze destroys $750k prime mover and its cargo

A B-double and its cargo have been completely destroyed in a terrifying highway blaze, with the truck driver narrowly escaping with his life.

A major highway in South Australia remains closed on Monday morning after a $750k B-double truck was “fully engulfed” by an uncontained blaze overnight.

Emergency services first received reports of the truck fire on Dukes Highway about 11.15pm on Sunday, arriving to discover a Kenworth prime mover well alight.

Pulled over to the side of the road, the truck and its cargo were engulfed in flames and the fire was threatening to spread to nearby scrub.

The truck and its cargo were ‘fully engulfed’ by the fire. Picture: CFS

The Dukes Highway remains closed in both directions. Picture: Traffic SA

About 20 firefighters and four trucks worked to contain the blaze before it reached the adjacent grass.

The truck driver, a 61-year-old Victorian man, escaped the vehicle unharmed.

Country Fire Service (CFS) SA described the damage sustained by the truck as “a total loss”, while the vehicle’s cargo was also destroyed in the incident.

The estimated damage cost was about $750k, CFS said in a statement.

The estimated cost of the damage amounted to about $750k. Picture: CFS

Police said in a statement that the blaze ‘keeps reigniting’. Picture: CFS

It’s believed the fire was caused by a mechanical fault in the prime mover.

Emergency services imposed lane restrictions overnight while CFS crews battled the blaze, which keeps reigniting and is still “going” as of 9.30am on Monday.

The Dukes Highway remains closed in both directions while fire crews work to disassemble the B-double in order to extinguish the blaze.

Originally published as ‘Fully engulfed’: Highway blaze destroys $750k prime mover and its cargo