By Danny Buttler
AN $80,000 utility was destroyed within minutes after a spectacular roadside fire in Pakenham on Monday.
Four CFA units were called to Army Road at around 5.15pm after the Ford F250’s engine caught on fire.
By the time fire trucks arrived it was too late to save the imported American ute, which was fueling flames that shot several metres into the air and a smoke plume that could be seen for many kilometres.
The blaze started after the driver, a Pakenham man, had passed through the Falling Water Drive roundabout driving away from the Princes Highway.
He noticed smoke coming from the engine bay and pulled over to turn off the motor.
The driver only just had time to remove a lawn mower and jerry can of fuel before the flames spread through the whole vehicle.
An LPG fuel tank in the rear of the vehicle did not explode despite the intense heat.
Pakenham Firefighter Daniel Ingram, who was one of the first on the scene, said he had never seen a car fire like it.
“I haven’t seen one fully involved like that straight away,” he said.
“The owner has done well to get his lawnmower and fuel out of the back of the car straight away but, unfortunately, he has lost his whole car.”
Mr Ingram said the CFA had no chance of saving the vehicle.
“We got a call to a car fire at 17.18 and by the time we left the station we saw the smoke.
“On arrival the car was fully involved,” he said.
Fire crews were forced to use breathing apparatus (BA) to combat thick smoke that billowed from the engine bay and cabin.
“The BA is for all the toxic fumes that come out of the car,” Firefighter Ingram said.
“All the plastics and metals these day are composite materials, therefore it’s hazardous for all firefighters involved.”
The burned out vehicle was removed from the scene by a car transport truck shortly after 6pm.
