By Margaret Maccoll
Environmental damage was the major concern for Noosa firefighters when they were called to extinguish a cardboard fire in a Cleanaway truck at the service station on Poinciana Avenue, Tewantin, on Monday 6 November.
Fire station officer Don Wilson said a large bin being picked up by the truck came in contact with the power supply, causing a fire.
“We had to wait for Energex to disconnect the power, and then used water to contain it,” he said.
Officers contacted their scientific branch because they were going to flood the truck, but were concerned about the potential of toxic material entering drains.
However, word came back there was no environmental risk from the cardboard that caught fire.
Don said a smouldering fire remained inside the truck. They estimated the truck contained about six tons of cardboard, so they got it to a stage where Cleanaway could take it back to its yard to empty the truck and extinguish the smouldering contents. He said there was no risk to the service station.
