February 13, 2026
A JJ’s Waste garbage truck was forced to quickly dump its load on Friday afternoon after a fire broke out inside its collection hopper.
The collection truck had been servicing the Blackbutt area.
The Queensland Fire Department were called to the hazmat incident on Emerson Road, near Boobir Creek Road, about 12:18pm.
Four fire crews were despatched to the scene; at 4:45pm, three were still present and Emerson Road remained temporarily closed.
A Council spokesperson said no injuries had been reported.
“Council would like to remind the public of the importance of correctly disposing of your waste,” the spokesperson said.
“If you are unsure of how to dispose of a waste item, please refer to Council’s Recyclopedia app or contact our waste team on (07) 4189-9100.”
The Recyclopedia app can be downloaded from both the Apple Store and Google Play.
Fires in garbage trucks are usually caused by items that can ignite or explode when compacted, including lithium-ion batteries from vapes, phones and power tools; partially empty aerosol cans or containers that contain inflammable liquids.
UPDATE: The build-up of heat inside the truck’s hopper is believed to have been caused by a container of acid which ruptured.
Lithium batteries are in everything nowdays, but what to do when they have reached their end of life?
Is there a SAFE drop-off point in Kingaroy for ALL lithium batteries?
It’s not just phones which have inbuilt batteries, it’s laptops and many other devices, plus all those tools… drills, saws and now mowers, plus bikes and scooters.
I don’t think that disposal was properly thought through when the *lithium revolution* began. It should have been.
I had a walk around and was shocked how many things I have that are powered by them. What do I do when these things die?
Many will just “chuck it in the bin, it’ll be right mate” but, it may not be. Hence the question… what do I do? Is there a place where I can safely take used batteries, such as from tools and larger items, not just phones?
How about handling it as it is in some European countries? Shops that sell those batteries or items containing them have to have a bin where customers can dump these batteries at the end of their life. Council then should open a collection point where the shops can bring the batteries when their container is full.
I have a Coleman lantern that has a dead lithium battery. According to the disposal instruction, I have to remove the battery and hand it in at the appropriate location. In order to remove it I will have to practically dismantle the whole lantern, that’s if I can even do it. Talk about making things difficult for consumers.
Agreed Merrick. Some tools have easy-to-remove batteries, but other items such as laptops have them built inside. All batteries should be EASY to remove. Why make the customer pay to have someone do it? Oh that’s right, so you can’t just pop in a new battery. This way, you’ll more than likely just go out and buy a new phone or laptop. Great for some with the money to do so.