It took 130 firefighters about five hours to extinguish a major blaze with a plume of black smoke that could be seen for kilometres on Friday.
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The cause of the large-scale emergency services operation – a fully laden fuel tanker on fire.
The 44-year-old Sydney driver of a Metro Petroleum tanker smelt smoke, pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the truck shortly before the cabin erupted into flames on the M1 Princes Motorway at 8.40am.
Illawarra and Sydney fire crews and police quickly descended on the West Wollongong scene.
The Mercury understands residents heard explosions.
The flames threatened nearby homes and as a result 19 people were evacuated but were allowed to return to their homes at around 2pm.
The driver was in a state of shock but was not injured.
Fire and Rescue NSW Illawarra zone commander Superintendent Jeff Roche said the truck was carrying about 35,000 litres of mixed fuels in six compartments.
“The first compartment from the rig was damaged by the fire and that started leaking which caused the sensational scenes of flames,” he said.
“Unfortunately the second compartment was compromised and a fire started in there.
“We managed to insert foam into the fuel compartments which prevented the fire getting any larger. We also cooled the rear of the tanker.
“It was great firemanship by our guys to stop the fire spreading into the other compartments.”
Supt Roche said a potential “catastrophe” was prevented.
The vehicle reached temperatures of 400 degrees.
Road closures and diversions around the site caused major headaches for drivers around Wollongong and coming from and going to Sydney.
Wollongong Police acting Superintendent Kevin McNeil could understand why drivers were frustrated .
“The main thing is no one was hurt,” he said. “We will clean this up and the road will reopen soon.”
Northbound highway lanes were reopened about 3.30pm.
Southbound lanes will remain closed overnight.
Southbound light vehicles are still being diverted at the Princes Highway Figtree exit, and can rejoin the motorway at Five Islands Road.
Southbound heavy vehicles should continue to exit at Mount Ousley Road and can rejoin the motorway at Masters Road.
A major clean-up effort continued into the night.
Supt Roche said the remaining fuel would need to be decanted.
“We will then hand over to a recovery company who will remove the vehicle,” he said.
RMS engineers were on site late Friday assessing the extent of repairs required on the blackened roadway.
The Environmental Protection Authority is also working to secure drainage systems from contaminated runoff.
Acting Superintendent McNeil said an investigation into the cause of the fire was ongoing.
“The heavy vehicle unit from Traffic and Highway Command will examine the vehicle and the truck company’s records.”
“It is unlikely at this stage that anything the driver has done has caused this fire.”
