A BARRABA man and his wife had a lucky escape on Saturday afternoon, when flames engulfed their truck after a load of hay they were carrying caught alight.
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Rural Fire Service tankers from Carroll and Kelvin responded to the incident 6kms south of Carroll on Norman’s Road, just before 3pm.
The truck driver had purchased the straw bales from a Norman’s Road property and was carting his load back to Barraba.
He didn’t get very far before he noticed flames enveloping his vehicle.
Quick thinking farm workers from neighbouring properties saw the smoke and went to the aid of the couple, managing to push half of the burning hay onto the side of the road with a front-end loader, in an attempt to save the truck.
When RFS crews arrived on scene, they pulled the remainder of the burning hay from the truck, before towing the vehicle into a nearby paddock away from the fire danger.
The truck re-ignited after it was towed, with firefighters quick to put it out.
The truck driver told firefighters he believed the hay pushed up against the exhaust (vertical stack) which sparked the fire.
RFS crews remained on scene for a number of hours hosing the smouldering hay to ensure the pile was completely extinguished.
The man and his wife were driven back to Barraba that afternoon.
