Truck fire at Cobar
Published: 1st September 2007
This morning firefighters from Cobar Fire Station responded to a report of a truck on fire on the Barrier Highway, 85 kilometres west of Cobar. On arrival fire crews were confronted with a B-Double truck with the prime mover and its front trailer fully engulfed with fire. The truck was carrying a mixed load of general freight and dangerous goods including one tonne of ammunition and gun powder along with eight drums of a corrosive substance. The front trailer also had 80 tyres on board which made the fire difficult to extinguish. Firefighters in breathing apparatus used large qualities of foam to combat the fire. The fire crews also used a thermal imaging camera to identify hot spots to direct the fire fighting effort as effective use of the limited water supply was critical being so far away from town and other water supplies. The burnt remains of the load did not pose a risk to people or the environment. Firefighters were successful in saving the rear trailer from any fire damage.