BURNT OUT: The cab of a 50-tonne truck and trailer unit was destroyed by fire in Porirua.
A truck driver was lucky to escape with his life after his cab caught fire while he was asleep in the early hours of this morning.
The driver was sleeping in his truck on Heriot Drive in Porirua, behind the Harvey Norman distribution warehouse.
Porirua fire station officer Gerry Twiss said the driver awoke to smoke filling the cab and only just managed to escape before it was consumed by flames.
The driver called the fire service, who arrived to find the truck fully ablaze but the man uninjured.
The heat was intense enough to char the sealant on a concrete wall of the warehouse close to the truck.
The cab was completely destroyed.
It was a lesson for truck drivers and truck companies, Mr Twiss said.
“We’ve suggested to the company if people are sleeping in trucks they should maybe get a smoke alarm,” he said. “If he hadn’t woken up, it could have been a lot different … he could still be in there.”
A fire safety investigator is examining the truck this morning to determine the cause of the blaze.
“It doesn’t appear to be suspicious,” Mr Twiss said. “The driver is fine … he was taken home to Wellington.”
KENT BLECHYNDEN/Fairfax NZ
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