Mayor of Willoughby, Tanya Taylor is calling on residents of the Local Government Area to avoid putting batteries of any kind into general waste bins, following a dramatic event caught on video when a contracted garbage truck caught alight.
The event occurred at 9.13am on 22 October, while the truck was performing routine waste collection duties at Northbridge after a lithium battery disposed of in garbage began smoking and subsequently combusted, setting on fire surrounding waste on board the truck.
View footage of the incident here: https://youtu.be/Rd2biYk40nw
The vehicle was promptly redirected to Tunks Park in nearby Cammeray—a location chosen for its open space and lack of overhead power lines, trees, or parked cars, minimising the risk to the surrounding area— where the driver of the truck successfully extinguished the fire before emergency services arrived.
