Narrabri Hazmat, the hazardous materials emergency response unit, was urgently called to the double fatality accident near Moree on Monday night.
The Hazmat crew which attended, Narrabri Fire and Rescue acting captain Jason Anderson and team mate, firefighter Luke Morgan, arrived at a devastating scene on the highway north of Moree.
Two semi trailers had collided resulting in the tragic deaths of two drivers.
Both male drivers, aged 25 and 63, died at the scene. A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Hazmat was called out to deal with any potential dangerous cargo on the vehicles.
“One semi trailer was carrying diesel and the other was carrying material which at first was thought to be fertiliser,” said Mr Anderson.
This had meant the establishment of a one kilometre exclusion zone around the accident site as a precaution.
However, the material aboard one semi was found to be a stock feed supplement, not fertiliser.
The Narrabri Hazmat technicians, called out at 10.20pm, stayed at the scene for several hours in support of the Moree Fire and Rescue and other emergency services before returning home at 4am.
The highway was closed off for the duration of the crash aftermath with traffic rerouted.
Narrabri Hazmat is equipped to deal with a wide range of potentially dangerous, toxic or explosive accident scenes and situations.
The technicians receive specialised training in the use of sophisticated chemical and atmospheric testing and control equipment in addition to normal fire and rescue
training.
The Narrabri based Hazmat is a regional Intermediate station covering a large swathe of NSW, with responsibilities reaching to the Queensland border, out to Walgett, Coonabarabran and Gunnedah.
The nearest other units are at Dubbo and Tamworth.
The crews have access to specialist expert advice in any emergency situation from experts in Sydney.
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