A caravan which got a puncture may have started a bushfire which forced the closure of the Hume Freeway in both directions this afternoon.
It took firefighters in 14 fire trucks several hours to bring the grass fires on the median strip of the freeway in Clonbinane, near Wandong in Victoria, under control.
It sparked traffic chaos and massive tailback in both directions.
Steve, a caller to the 3AW radio station said he saw the fire actually start.
“We were driving up the Hume and following a caravan and its tyre exploded … and because of the wire barriers he couldn’t pull over, so he drove for about another kilometre and a half, pulling his caravan, and it slowly disintegrated,” he said. “Sparks flew off the side and it started a bushfire … by the time he actually pulled over about half of his rim was missing.”
The cause of the bushfire has not yet been confirmed.
Wire rope barriers are too close to the roadway in many places…nowhere to pull off as in this case. They were put in with no consultation with CFA etc.