'PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!'

Trapped in a blazing inferno, the young girl put her faith in a courageous firefighter

- James Hutchison

Let’s go, Mum!” Shirley Young begged her mother. It was Thursday, 9 August, 1990—late-night shopping at the Manukau City Shopping Centre in South Auckland. One of the highlights of the week for the 12-year-old Maori girl was to spend a few hours at New Zealand’s biggest mall with her aunt and cousin. Her mother Gaylene, a single parent struggling to improve her job prospects, appreciated having a few hours by herself to catch up on her studies. Gaylene drove the trio to the mall in her sister’s white Cortina, stopping at the kerb on busy Wiri Station Road to drop them off. As Shirley headed across the car park to join the throng of shoppers she suddenly realized she didn’t have her purse. “Wait Mum!” she yelled, running back. “I forgot my money.” Shirley opened the passenger door and leaned in.

Further back along the busy road, Buddy Marsh shifted gears on his huge Scania tanker as he headed up the rise. The 40-tonne truck and trailer held more than 30,000 litres of petrol destined for a service station in central Auckland. A cautious driver, Marsh kept well to the left of the two-lane road but, as he neared the mall, a taxi pulled out of the car park, blocking his lane. Marsh swung his rig away. A glance in his mirrors showed the trailer just cleared the front of the taxi. Then, as he looked ahead, Marsh gasped in horror. Not 20 metres away, directly in his path, was a stationary white car.

Marsh yanked on the steering wheel and hit the air brakes, locking up several of the 14 sets of wheels. The truck slammed into the rear of the car, spinning it round like a child’s toy and rupturing its fuel tank. Petrol sprayed both vehicles, igniting them instantly. Carried on by its massive momentum, the trailer jackknifed, reared over the kerb and toppled on top of the wrecked car.