Van Catches Fire

AT approximately 11:50 am today the 20 year old driver of a 1975 Volkswagen Camper van felt her vehicle slow down and smelt smoke so she pulled over to investigate.

A van which caught fire on the New England Highway, north of Aberdeen.

As she got out of the van a driver who had been traveling behind her told her to step away from the van quickly and that is when she saw flames under her van.

A resident from nearby used a fire extinguisher on the van, but the fire continued to escalate.

Two fire crews, one from Kingdon Ponds Rural Fire Service and the other from Aberdeen Fire and Rescue attended and it took more than half an hour to stop the flames.

The owner of the van, from Tamworth, had only bought her dream van three days ago and thankfully she made sure the van was insured before taking her first trip in the van to Sydney to see friends.

The fire crews said the young woman was very lucky considering she had a full tank of petrol when she left Tamworth and that she was able to pull over so quickly when she felt there was a problem.