Truck Ablaze On Evans Pass Road

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30289, 15 November 1963, Page 17

Truck Ablaze On Evans Pass Road

Eight tons of canned foods were destroyed and a truck severely damaged when the truck caught fire on the Evans Pass road while travelling from Lyttelton to Christchurch last evening. The truck was towing a trailer loaded with six tons of . canned foods. Firemen prevented the blaze spreading to the trailer. The fire broke out near the top of the

pass, on the Christchurch side. The blaze was seen from miles away and the fire brigade received numerous telephone calls. Engines from the Sumner Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Woolston Fire Station turned out in answer to the first call at 8.46 p.m. They carried their own water in tanks and also used foam extinguishers to quell the blaze.

The fire started very suddenly. The driver, going downhill, noticed a glow behind him and stopped the truck and trailer, which are equipped with air brakes. Traffic was held up for about two hours. Two breakdown trucks, one in front of the truck and the other behind the trailer, eased the unit down the steep hill to the flat at Sumner.

Fire broke out again under the deck of the truck as it was being taken down the hill, and firemen from Sumner were called out again. The fire was put out without further damage. The brakes on the trailer were still working and helped hold the unit back as it was taken slowly downhill. Police and traffic officers directed traffic while the fire was being put out and while the truck and trailer were taken to the flat.