A semi-trailer carrying 6 tonnes of aerosol paint cans and sugar cane mulch has burst into flames on the Pacific Highway in northern NSW.
Fire and Rescue NSW said the driver first noticed smoke billowing from his trailers just before 11:30pm last night as he was driving south near Pimlico, south of Ballina.
Acting Inspector Price Conlon said the driver managed to pull the B-double over onto the side of the highway and call for help before the fire quickly engulfed the entire truck.
He praised the quick thinking of the driver, who was able to give detailed information to fire crews about what was on board.
"The fact that he managed to pull the thing over to the side of the road safely and managed to grab the manifest, which was the key to the whole safe operation," Acting Inspector Conlon said.
"It was a very dangerous situation when they first arrived with lots of paint cans exploding and quite an intense fire."
Transport for NSW said the truck was carrying a mixed load of goods, including aerosol cans, cane mulch and mosquito coils, bound for Bunnings.
Three Fire and Rescue NSW trucks from Ballina and a hazardous materials truck were joined by four Rural Fire Service tankers, NSW Police and NSW Ambulance at the scene.
The Pacific Highway was closed for a short period of time while fire crews brought the fire under control.
Loud bangs heard kilometres away
Residents nearly 20 kilometres away reported hearing explosions.
Rob Blair-Hickman lives nearby and he thought there were fireworks going off.
"It was like New Year's Eve going on again," he said.
"We live around a kilometre away and it looked like a cane fire so we jumped in the car and just went down to have a look."
Once closer, he said he saw paint cans catapulting up to about 40 metres in the air and landing more than 70 metres from where the truck was burning.
"There was so many explosions, hundreds of what turned out to be spray cans and aerosols being shot into the sky," he said.
"You just didn't know if there was going to be one big explosion but there was just hundreds of these little ones."
The clean up
Transport NSW works supervisor Ash Layton said heavy machinery and manual labour was used to clean up the site.
"We then had guys on the ground doing clean up manually, just picking up the stuff manually that had come outside the truck area," Mr Layton said.
Mr Blair-Hickman, who runs a honey farm nearby, said he held concerns that the debris from the fire could harm local wildlife and the environment.
But he said the extent and speed of the clean-up exceeded his expectations.
"I think they've done a great job, it's a great effort," he said.
Authorities said early indications were that a mechanical issue with the trailers may have caused the fire.
