why o why was this bit of road closed
the lorry on fire was on the link to m5 north
the m5 going south past junction 4 was open all the time
really bad planning by HA in my opinion
Agreed, I think those boys are often more hassle than they are worth. I came south past the burning lorry this morning, and noticed the odd placing of the cones.
Just glad I was going South.
Doesn’t it depend on what the truck is carrying, wind direction, gradient etc as you wouldn’t want burning liquid flowing down into the path of traffic?
Muckaway:
Doesn’t it depend on what the truck is carrying, wind direction, gradient etc as you wouldn’t want burning liquid flowing down into the path of traffic?
Yup ! fully agree .
Health and safety for all – key factor .
Mind you , 500 litres of flowing diesel from its fuel tank with a lit flame on tarmac 
OOOOoooooohhhhh 
Better than the Thames New year millenium celebration , do they want a Pyrotechnics job ■■? 
Was this the truck fire yesterday morning? Went up about 0445?
If so what time was the M42 to M5 south closed?
The M42 to M5 north was closed on my instructions as the fire was 250 yds from J4, not on the link road. I ran the scene from 0520 until about 0730 when i went off duty, at one point we had M5N closed and sent everything up the M42 but after i went i think the closure moved back to J5 M5N. At no time between the start and when i left scene was the M42 to M5 south closed. Even closing the 42 to M5 N was done static with no rolling block.
The trailer was full of foam for settees etc and smouldered more than burnt, eveytime the fire boys put it out and then raked it down it all started again so they had to empty the trailer and put the whole lot out, hence the delays. then the road needed resurfacing i think.
I managed to get the trapped traffic between the incident and the closure moved after a discussion with fire, they stopped putting it out to reduce the smoke while the traffic went past, then carried on. The southbound was never closed but i did have a crew ready to put in a block if the smoke got worse sitting at J4 throughout.
Mick
WildGoose:
Agreed, I think those boys are often more hassle than they are worth. I came south past the burning lorry this morning, and noticed the odd placing of the cones.Just glad I was going South.
Are we, why’s that then??
What odd placing of cones?? What closure would you have seen going that way?
All real questions by the way as i welcome critisism when we do wrong, on the other hand i will defend me and my lads to the hilt when someone wants to whinge about nothing.
Mick
hitch:
why o why was this bit of road closed
the lorry on fire was on the link to m5 north
the m5 going south past junction 4 was open all the time
really bad planning by HA in my opinion
Still waiting for a reply. The lorry wasnt where you say it was, the road wasnt closed, southbound ran all through the incident, what was the bad planning??
As already said these are real questions as i was on scene and if we did wrong i want to know about it, if its just another boring and pointless dig at the HA i will defend us every time we do it right.
Mick.
When I was a teenager I was a Fire Brigade cadet and was told by a fireman that when some sofas (and in this case their fillings) burn they can give off cyanide gas…good enough reason to close a carriageway IMHO…
What caused the fire-hot brakes?
It was all non toxic foam, at least i hope it was as i spent about 20 minutes standing in it when we got the trapped traffic through, wandered through it countless times to talk to the F&R guys and the driver.
Driver didnt know what the cause was but F&R said brakes.
Mick.
sorry about the delay in replying (tech probs)
the M42 south was closed at junction 1 not sure of exact time
i was in que from top of the hill past 2 for 1.5 hours
i agree the truck was not on the actual link road
and thats the point no way would south bound m42 traffic faced any H&S issues
and they wouldnt have caused services any trouble
not once in listening to the radio did i hear mention that M5 south traffic
couldnt go past Lydiate Ash
in fact even though i was going south i got on motorway at Junction 4
whom ever it was who took the decision to stop southbound M42 traffic got it wrong
While i was running the job the M42 wasn’t closed which is why i asked what time it was when you were stuck. As far as i know there was no reason to close it for the recovery either and the fire didnt get any worse, only better.
Surprised that someone made the decision to close that section, unless another incident happened. I’m back in tomorrow so i will find out what happened and why it was closed and update this thread.
Lydiate Ash stayed open while i was there too although i had a crew ready to close the M5 at J4 if the smoke got worse or another danger reared its head. The smoke was rising from the fire, when it hit the top of the embankment the wind blew it across the southbound carriageway but above the height of anything passing, 99% of the time. Ocassionally the wind backed and blew a bit onto the carriageway.
Mick
Bit off the subject but it was one of our trailers filled with bails of scrap foam being pulled by a subbie! A couple of years ago I went to pick it up form a place on halesfield that had burnt down and this trailer (#k29) was dropped next to the building and all the back doors had been badly burnt and the lenses melted etc. Think this trailer was doomed!!
Sounds like that trailer was doomed to be cremated at some time.
Done some digging this morning at work, looks like someone made the decision to close the southbound M42 without being in posession of all the facts, didnt bother checking so made a mistake. Unfortunately they are a rank above me so i shouldnt say anything, however i have emailed my thoughts and comments ready for the debrief, which were supported by others so hopefully its a mistake that wont be made again.
I can only apologise for this and assure you it happened after i handed over.
Mick
I have to echo Oscardog’s post and say that if people on here ask serious questions,then we will attempt to give suitable answers.Oscardog and myself will hold our hands up and say we got it wrong,if that is the case,BUT we will defend our,or our crew’s, actions when needed.We know there are one or two people on this site (drivers and hato’s) whose sole intention is to wind people up.But ask us a serious question,or give us constructive critiscism and we will be honest in our reply.Coffeeholic will vouch for that. 
cheers
I had a 7.5 ton truck on fire on the shelf once, the front tyre blew and shot in a straight line across all 3 lanes, hit the central res and bounced back still burning landing in lane 3. Im sure you’d like your truck to get wacked by that. Who would you claim compo off of? The HA as we didnt protect you. Dammed if you do, dammed if you dont. Maybe there should be alwa in cars and trucks catching fire on the motorway. 
Big Jase:
I had a 7.5 ton truck on fire on the shelf once, the front tyre blew and shot in a straight line across all 3 lanes, hit the central res and bounced back still burning landing in lane 3. Im sure you’d like your truck to get wacked by that. Who would you claim compo off of? The HA as we didnt protect you. Dammed if you do, dammed if you dont. Maybe there should be alwa in cars and trucks catching fire on the motorway.
So what are you saying here? Are you advocating that in the case of a vehicle fire you’d push for full lane closure for both carriageways? Or would it be too much to expect for you to take a leaf out of the HATO’s here that are blessed with common sense and treat each situation individually?
Not really sure what is meant by “alwa” so can’t comment on that.
Should have been “ban”.
Anyway you tool, I am merely making a point that this is what has happended, thats all. I use commom sense in every job I do but I as does everyone need to be aware that this can happen so consider this the next time your sat going no where with something on fire on the shelf and wondering why we dont let you go. If you like and I’m at a car/lorry fire and you want to go on through, sign my pocket note book and you can carry on, especially if your on a motorbike.
You really are a loathsome mouth on a stick aren’t you?
You turn up every now and again like a particularly annoying STD pontificating all your anti truck driver crap, you’re an embarrassment to your profession, in fact an embarrassment to anybody who reads your inane drivel.
Just crawl back under whatever rock it is you periodically appear from and leave the rest of us to the real world. Maggot.
the maoster:
You really are a loathsome mouth on a stick aren’t you?You turn up every now and again like a particularly annoying STD pontificating all your anti truck driver crap, you’re an embarrassment to your profession, in fact an embarrassment to anybody who reads your inane drivel.
Just crawl back under whatever rock it is you periodically appear from and leave the rest of us to the real world. Maggot.
He he, i love you. If there wasn’t people on here that spouted out crap like "So what are you saying here? Are you advocating that in the case of a vehicle fire you’d push for full lane closure for both carriageways? Or would it be too much to expect for you to take a leaf out of the HATO’s here that are blessed with common sense and treat each situation individually?" Then I would never have had such a low opinion of modern day truckers now would I. You all provoked me so you’ll only get crap back.
You know nothing about me and nothing about our role or what rules we have to work under. The crap we have to answer to and the trouble you get afterwards is much akin to only having a 43 minute break, driving over your 4.5 hours and overspeeding. I wouldn’t expect you to do any of the above for me so why should I get disciplined for you just to get you on your way. Everyone spouts Health and safety so when we obey its wrong, if you get injured or your car is damaged you will sue us/me yet when we stop you for what we perceive to be on safety ground you come on here and slate us.