A road train pulling three trailers loaded with hay caught fire yesterday, forcing the closure of the Stuart Highway for several hours.
Grey nomads were among the travellers held up as emergency services dealt with the drama which happened six kilometres north of Mataranka, about 420 kilometres south of Darwin.
The blaze – which caused an estimated $55,000 worth of damage – was apparently started by a stray ember from a small bushfire.
“It’s travelled past a bushfire on the side of the road and we believe the embers from that bushfire have caused the third trailer of the road train to catch alight,” said remote Sergeant Thomas Chalk from the NT Police. “The driver noticed it and he stopped about six kilometres north of Mataranka.”
Sergeant Chalk told the ABC that the driver of the road train was fine.
The driver managed to detach the last trailer of the road train to keep the fire away from the front two trailers, he said.
While the highway was closed, the only possible route around the block was via several hundred kilometres of poor-quality roads.
