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A DRIVER escaped injury after his B double caught alight on the Newell Highway near Gilgandra on Wednesday evening.
The B double was heading south on the Newell Highway when, about ten kilometres north of Gilgandra, the driver noticed smoke coming from the wheels on the primary trailer.
The driver stopped the truck off the road and attended to the wheel hub area of the trailer, which at this time was well alight.
Five Rural Fire Service (RFS) units and 18 fire fighters attended the scene just before 7.30pm and spent about 45 minutes bringing the blaze under control.
Extensive damage was caused to the rig as well as the load it was carrying.
No persons were injured as a result of the fire and the Newell Highway was not closed as a result, but contraflow measures were in place until about midnight.
Salvage crew attended this morning and the truck and load were removed.
“At this stage it appears to be a mechanically (sic) failure that has caused the blaze and the quick thinking of the truck driver, getting the rig safely off the road, averted traffic problems and damage to the roadway from the heat generated,” Orana Local Area Command (LAC) Inspector Dan Skelly said.
“A police report was completed with no further action proposed at this time.”