By Lara Prust
Gisborne CFA responded to a rubbish truck fire last week, believed to have been sparked from household batteries disposed in a resident’s general waste bin.
The driver noticed the fire in the truck’s skip bin during the early hours of Monday morning, and as a safety measure, dumped the entire rubbish load from the vehicle.
CFA respondents arrived shortly after and extinguished the flames within 15 minutes, before clearing the road of debris.
Gisborne Captain, Henry Neal, said the battery likely ignited when it was compacted into the truck’s cargo.
“The job was over pretty quickly because the truck driver did all the right things,” he said.
He added, battery fires are common and they cannot be disposed in general waste bins, even when they appear to be flat.
In a social media post about the incident, the Gisborne CFA brigade urged the community, “a small action at home can prevent fires, damage and risk to crews on the road”.
Residents can dispose batteries at locations across the community, including supermarkets and all Macedon Ranges resource recovery facilities.
