A truck driver has had a lucky escape after stopping on the Hume Highway at Narellan, New South Wales, due to a hub fire.
Things could have ended very differently if it wasn’t for the quick-thinking actions of Cameron Taylor, National Manager – Gases at Toll, who just happened to be passing through. Thanks to his experience and training in dangerous goods, he knew exactly what to do to get the situation under control.
He told Big Rigs he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. “And knowing how to deal with this as it often tests people when it’s an emergency situation. I sensed the driver was in trouble so stepped in to help.
“It was very serious, I think within a couple of minutes that whole trailer would have been fully alight. It would have caused traffic chaos and closed the Hume.”
The incident occurred during peak hour, at around 8.50am yesterday (Monday March 3) with a lot of traffic on the road.
“I was on my way to Port Kembla in the Toll vehicle and could hear chitter chatter on the UHF. I kept hearing people asking the driver, ‘Are you okay?’ As I got up over the hill, there was smoke billowing across the highway. Straight away I thought it was a hub or a brake fire. So the emergency response side of me kicked in immediately.”
Cameron said the truck was stopped in the emergency lane. “I raced up to the vehicle and as I approached the second drive axle, there was heavy flame that was coming from the inner tyre being well alight.”
As he continued, “Hub fires generate such intense heat and even when you think you’ve got it out, it can flare up. Had I not stopped, within 5-6 minutes max, I think that trailer would have been fully alight. In a hub fire, you’re talking hundreds of degrees.”
The Toll vehicle Cameron was driving was equipped with one 9kg, two 4.5kg and one 1kg dry powder fire extinguishers, so he quickly jumped into fire-fighting mode.
“I had four extinguishers in total and had to use the fourth one sparingly to keep flare-ups under control until emergency services arrived,” he explained.
“You know you’re not going to put it out on the first extinguisher, it will flare up – and it did flare up three times.
“There were some very hairy moments but thankfully the fire brigade arrived in time as I was exhausting the last available fire extinguisher.
“Where we were on the Hume Highway is several kilometres south of Narellan Road, so even with a priority call, I knew it would take at least 15-18 minutes for emergency services to get there. I had to keep it under control, because I knew if it got out of control, there was no return.
“I do carry fire extinguishers, as in our fuels and gases space, it is critical for safety. I carry everything on board in case it’s needed in an emergency response situation or a community assist incident like this one.”
He says the first thing he asked the driver was what he had on board the trailer – particularly if there were any dangerous goods or flammables, so he knew what he was dealing with. The trailer was however empty.
“The emergency response side of me kicked in straight away, I knew I had to act immediately – there was concern for the driver, so I had to step in. It’s second nature for us working in the dangerous goods space. A lot of people think it won’t happen to them, but if it does, it’s important to know how to react.
“The driver was very shaken up but very thankful for my help. I had to take charge and become the first responder. It’s a daunting and challenging situation. It was really nice that the company also reached out and were really thankful for my help,” Cameron added.
In this story there are references to the “trailer”. But, the photo at the top of the article appears to be of a five-axle, twin-steer rigid truck???