Truckie escapes great ball of fire

SPECTACULAR BLAZE: A truck burst into flames at the Pacific Highway near Currumbin during peak hour traffic this week. Photo courtesy of Govinda Johnson

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Truck fire at Currumbin

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News in pictures - March 2010

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A TRUCK driver escaped serious injury by the seat of his pants when his truck spectacularly burst into flames during peak-hour Pacific Highway traffic.

The Stewart Road off-ramp at Tugun was blocked to traffic as flames engulfed the rig, at 6.30pm DST on Wednesday.

A Gold Coast Police spokeswoman said the driver noticed his dashboard lights went off, before quickly exiting the vehicle as his seat caught fire and the cabin was engulfed in flames.

Queensland Ambulance attended, but the man did not need any medical attention.

There were no other vehicles involved in the incident and no one was injured.

Tweed Heads woman Govinda Johnson said she captured the moment on camera as she drove past the scene.

“The entire front of the truck was alight with clouds of smoke billowing into the sky,” she said.

Investigations into the fire continue.