Firefighters receive bravery awards after Charleville truck explosion

Firefighters who saved lives at a catastrophic truck explosion south of Charleville in September were honoured for their exceptional bravery at an awards ceremony in Charleville yesterday.

Lieutenants Jake Sullivan and Peter Hackwood received the Commissioner’s Medal for Valour and firefighters Nathan Thompson and Clinten McCarthy received the Commissioner’s Commendation for Bravery Award.

Fire Communications Officers Leigh Murphy and James Harris were awarded Commissioner’s Unit Citations for their extraordinary professionalism during the incident.

Around 9.30pm on Friday 5 September, two fire crews responded to a truck rollover on the Mitchell Highway, 30 kilometres south of Charleville. Risking their lives, Lieutenants Jake Sullivan and Peter Hackwood made the heroic decision to remain on scene and attend to the injured driver, knowing that the truck carried more than 50 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate and a detonation was likely.

While firefighters and bystanders were administering first aid to the driver and evacuating civilians from the site, a blast so powerful it blew a five-metre-wide crater in the Mitchell Highway occurred, completely destroying the truck, two bridges, severely damaging two fire appliances and injuring eight people, including the truck driver, four firefighters, two bystanders and a police officer.

After the explosion, and despite their severe injuries and periods of unconsciousness, all four firefighters from Charleville continued with search and rescue operations, evacuating all on scene out of the danger zone to medical assistance.