The lorry was partially burnt before the fire department managed to extinguish the blaze.
Motorists heading north on Jalan Duta this afternoon (Tuesday 13th August) might have felt a little bit hotter than usual, as part of the road caught fire after diesel spilled onto it from an overturned container lorry. The sizeable pool of fuel in the middle of the highway was observed to be set ablaze after a few vehicles drove through it, resulting in the lorry eventually being partially burnt before the fire department put the fire out.
A spokesperson for the Kuala Lumpur fire and rescue department spokesman has stated that they received a distress call at 12.03 pm, and had dispatched both a fire engine and water tanker from the Sri Hartamas Fire and Rescue station to the scene. “Upon arriving at the scene at 12.12 pm, the team saw the front portion of the trailer on fire and started dousing it,” he said, adding that the trailer was 50 per cent burnt before the fire was completely out at 1.48 p.m.
One man in his 30s, believed to be the trailer driver, sustained injuries on his head and hand as a result of this incident. The injured party has since been initially referred to the medical response team, and was later sent to the hospital for further treatment.
The cause of the container lorry ending up on its side, in addition to how the fire started is still being investigated thus far. The now viral video of this incident does nevertheless show that the blaze actually initiated from the container lorry, leading to the hypothesis that a combination of the diesel spilling onto its hot exhaust and/or the hot asphalt kickstarting the eventual blaze.
That said, the more eye-catching spectacle from the video has to be the various vehicles doing their best Ghost Rider impression as their tyres are set ablaze while driving through the pool of diesel. Now this fiery scenario could be caused by the diesel vapour or splashes coming in contact with the hot tyres and/or brakes of the traversing vehicles.
It therefore probably goes without saying then that it is best to avoid driving through any puddle of diesel that one might find on the road. Not just because of the risk of one’s vehicle going up in smoke though, but driving through what is essentially an oil slick does make for some rather sketchy vehicle handling characteristics immediately after.
