CALTEX service station attendant Sam Tasaaar described the minutes that followed a car crashing into a petrol pump as “terrifying”, with flames shooting up.
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Mr Tasaaar was working alone at the station on Monday afternoon when an elderly couple ran into a fuel bowser.
“I just heard the sound of the screeching,” Mr Tasaaar said.
“I guess they came from the Subway [across the street] and they tried to stop the car but I guess instead of braking they hit the accelerator.
“They just headed straight into the pump.
“At that time, I was a bit scared to be honest.”
He said fire engulfed the bowser immediately.
“I could just see the fire and I couldn’t see anyone inside the car, it was a bit terrifying.”
Bystanders rushed in to assist the couple, with Ivan Smith tearing out of Abbotsleigh Motor Inn to help.
Mr Smith said it was a split second decision.
“You either go in and help or you run the other way,” he said.
“You gotta decide whether to go in and risk an explosion or a [ignore] lady who’s gonna burn.”
He said staff from Blackjacks were on the scene “like lightning”.
“He was so quick, he came in and talked to the driver,” Mr Smith said.
“The driver said, ‘save my wife’. He had the lady and was flying out of there.”
Paramedics assessed the pair at the scene before they were transported to Armidale Rural Referral Hospital.
“In both case neither sustained burn injuries,” a NSW ambulance spokesman said.
“They were transported to hospital as a precaution.”
A spokeswoman from Hunter New England Health yesterday said the pair were in a stable condition.
“There was quite a team effort but what I found that it was scary in the fact the petrol station flames going up the roof,” Mr Smith said.
Armidale Station Commander Wayne Zikan said that while fuel is highly flammable, a Hollywood-style fireball at the service station was highly unlikely. “Fuel stations are very well-designed these days and the risk of a major fire or an explosion, which most people fear, is very remote,” he said.
“The bowsers themselves only hold a very small amount of fuel and that’s what has burnt here.
“So as dramatic as it looked, we were able to bring the fire under control very quickly and as you can see there is a bit of damage, but nothing that can’t be prepared.”
Commander Zikan said the job for firefighters was relatively small.
“There was a small fire, we got to work, put some foam on the fire and it was out very quickly,” he said.
A Caltex representative said the station remained closed yesterday, with work crews attended the site to asses the damage before reopening the site in the afternoon.
“The repairs could take some time – no timeframe has been set for this work,” he said.
Armidale police are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
