Six truck drivers have been "extremely lucky" to escape injury in a fiery truck crash southwest of Goulburn, according to NSW Ambulance.
Acting Inspector Ian Pollard made the comment to media at the scene of the six-truck crash on the Hume Highway, Breadalbane, 32km southwest of Goulburn, on Tuesday, June 30.
Emergency services responded at 5am to reports the vehicles had collided in the highway's northbound side, just south of Lerida Road. All of the semi-trailers caught fire.
Acting Inspector Vlad Mijok described it as an "absolutely chaotic" scene.
"You can imagine it with six trucks alight and emergency services making sure everyone was accounted for, closing the highway and keeping people safe," he said.
Acting Inspector Mijok said a truck driver was entering the Windmills rest area to take a break when another semi-trailer travelling behind collided with the vehicle's rear, catapulting four other trucks into each other and sparking a fire.
NSW Fire and Rescue Inspector Jason Murphy said authorities established that six trucks were involved, despite initial reports of seven.
One truck was carrying eight tonnes of gas cannisters, which exploded, while another was laden with 38000 of mixed alcohol drinks, fuelling the fire. A third truck was carrying rice, which Inspector Murphy said was "burning quite nicely," and a fourth was transporting resin. One of the vehicles was also loaded with memory foam mattresses, which burnt into the early afternoon.
Inspector Pollard said the six trucks were well alight when paramedics arrived. However none of the drivers were injured or required transport to hospital.
"Those six are extremely lucky to walk out of that crash. It blows my mind..." he said.
The Hume Highway was closed in both directions from about 5.30am while firefighters tackled the blaze. Southern Tablelands RFS Superintendent, Krystaal Hinds said 20 firefighting appliances, including 10 specialist resources and up to 80 personnel were onsite at 1pm. NSW Fire and Rescue also deployed more than 50 personnel, Hazmat, specialist resources from Sydney and their aviation team. ACT Fire and Rescue also attended.
Firefighters deployed compressed foam to control the blaze and later, drones to monitor air quality and assess clean-up needs.
By 1pm the trucks, firefighters had doused most of the flames and the trucks were smouldering.
Police said two of the drivers were taken to Goulburn Base Hospital for mandatory blood and alcohol testing.
Acting Inspector Mijok said he hoped the highway's southbound lanes could be re-opened on Tuesday afternoon under contra-flow. Traffic diversions via the Barton and Federal Highways were in place.
One southbound lane re-opened at 3.30pm. Northbound lanes remained closed.
The Traffic Management Centre and the EPA also attended the scene, the latter due to chemicals on board the trucks.
In related news, the Transport Workers Union has called for an investigation into the supply chains and clients for which the trucks were transporting.
National secretary Michael Kaine said the industry was under pressure from "underpayments, fatigue, speeding, and overloaded trucks linked to the low-cost contracts demanded by wealthy retailers, manufacturers, and oil companies at the top of the supply chain."
"Today we've seen another horrific trucking accident (near) Goulburn, an all-too-common tale in what is Australia's deadliest industry," he said.
"While the community grapples with the extent of the devastation caused in this incident and how it happened, we know that there are huge and deadly pressures in this industry with dreadful consequences for workers and the entire community.
"The call cannot be clearer: the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator must investigate this incident which could have had catastrophic consequences for these drivers and the broader public. They must investigate the whole supply chains involved-not just the drivers and the companies, which have the least power.
"We need to lift standards in trucking, where transport clients are demanding faster and cheaper transport, piling pressure on workers to rush, delay vital truck maintenance and skip rest breaks."
