Garbage truck fire triggers Liguanea scare

PEDESTRIANS WERE sent scampering for cover yesterday morning after a garbage truck caught fire near the intersection of Old Hope and Hope roads in Liguanea, St Andrew.

According to the driver of the truck, owned by Premier Waste Management Limited, the fire started behind the vehicle’s cab about 10 a.m.

There was one other passenger in the truck. No one was injured in the blaze.

“I’m just driving come down and I hear a car man shout and tell me that the vehicle is on fire. I pull over, and by the time I was trying to out it with the extinguisher, it got out of control,” said the driver, who watched as the vehicle burst into flames.

“I don’t know how it started. I don’t know if it is a loose wire around the back or nothing,” he said, fearful of losing his job over the incident. “I just wonder why is me this have to happen to today.”

Police arrived early on the scene and cordoned the roadway, causing rush-hour traffic to crawl as they and onlookers milled around.

One fire truck turned up to out the blaze, but it was long after the truck’s gas tank exploded, sending more flames through the vehicle and onlookers scurrying for cover.

A Jamaica Public Service Company utility pole was damaged by the blaze.

GLADSTONE TAYLOR/MULTIMEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Ina Daley, a triathlete, breaks from her morning ride down Old Hope Road, St Andrew, to take a photo of a burning garbage truck in the vicinity of Providence Methodist Church as firemen cool down the shell of the vehicle.