A faulty gas hose on a bitumen sprayer truck provided a brief, fiery sideshow during the opening of stage 2 of Canberra Airport's terminal on Wednesday morning.
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As guests in Virgin Australia's new lounge listened to Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese and ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, a truck working on the new section of apron in front of the terminal burst into flames, above.
Contractor Downer EDI spokesman Michael Sharp said the truck was spraying bitumen, which was heated by a quick flame.
''Basically it was a mechanical failure with the gas hose and when the issue occurred, the gas was turned off and the hose has been replaced.'' Mr Sharp was unaware if the vehicle was damaged.
Airport managing director Stephen Byron said the fire lasted for between two and four seconds in a minor incident. There were no aircraft nearby.
The Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting Service of Airservices Australia is responsible for extinguishing airport fires and can call on ACT Fire and Rescue if required.
Neither service was required on Wednesday.