An incident last week when a garbage truck caught on fire at Blackwall is a timely reminder to take care about items placed in rubbish bins for collection.
Firefighters from Umina brigade were called to extinguish a fire in a garbage truck which ignited from bulk kerbside material collected.
Thanks to the quick action of the truck drivers and the Umina fire brigade the incident wasn’t as dangerous as it could have been.
When putting items out for a bulk kerbside collection or in your bin, double check that they do not contain batteries including Lithium-Ion batteries commonly found in children’s ride on toys, remote control cars, hand tools, vaping devices, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, E-Bikes, electric toothbrushes, hoverboards and electric scooters.
If batteries are left in these items they can pose a serious risk to collection drivers, processing staff and the community if they ignite whilst being collected.
For more information about safe storage and disposal of batteries and other hazardous materials visit the website https://1coast.com.au/hazardous-waste/
Source:
Fire and Rescue Umina