Riverina
Truck carrying offal destroyed by fire on Riverina highway
A TRUCK carrying offal has been destroyed by fire in the Riverina, triggering a major emergency response and a significant diesel spill.
Emergency services were called to the Kilgowla rest area on the southbound side of the Hume Highway near Tarcutta shortly after 10.30am on Wednesday, July 22, following multiple Triple Zero (000) calls reporting a truck on fire.
NSW Rural Fire Service crews were first to arrive, finding the large dump truck well alight with its load of animal by-product, or offal, engulfed in flames.
Image: NSW RFS/Tarcutta Rural Fire Brigade
Fire and Rescue NSW crews arrived shortly afterwards and worked alongside RFS firefighters to bring the blaze under control while containing a diesel spill that stretched for approximately 100 metres along the highway.
Hazardous materials specialists from Wagga’s Fire and Rescue NSW Station 480 also responded, decanting about 200 litres of diesel from the truck’s fuel tanks and deploying additional absorbent material to prevent contaminated runoff from spreading into the surrounding environment.
Image: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 472 Turvey Park
Image: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 472 Turvey Park
The fire caused extensive damage, completely destroying the truck’s prime mover and leaving the trailer heavily fire affected.
Images from the scene showed firefighters continuing to douse hotspots with foam and water as steam and smoke rose from the blackened wreckage, while environmental clean-up operations were carried out around the diesel spill.
Image: NSW RFS/Tarcutta Rural Fire Brigade
Image: NSW RFS/Tarcutta Rural Fire Brigade
Image: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 472 Turvey Park
The incident also caused significant traffic disruptions throughout the morning and into the afternoon.
The southbound carriageway of the Hume Highway was initially closed, with motorists diverted via the Sturt Highway and Tumbarumba Road before rejoining the Hume Highway south of the incident.
One southbound lane was later reopened, while the second remained closed as firefighters completed extinguishment operations and crews worked to remove the destroyed truck and clean the roadway.
Image: Fire and Rescue NSW Station 472 Turvey Park
Image: NSW RFS/Tarcutta Rural Fire Brigade
After several hours, the scene was declared safe and the truck was removed from the rest area.
No injuries were reported.
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