Two men survived a violent crash during an off-road race in north-west Victoria, only to die when fire "rapidly engulfed" their vehicle before help could arrive. Now a coroner is demanding faster action on safety rules that could prevent similar deaths.
Gerald Hoekstra, 46, and Ede Taric, 50, were competing in the Desert Enduro Race at Rainbow, about 400 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, on September 4, 2022, when Hoekstra lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a tree. The vehicle rolled, landed on its side and burst into flames. Competitor teams stopped to help and saw Hoekstra attempting to exit the vehicle, but they couldn't douse the flames with fire extinguishers. Both men died at the scene.
When Safety Equipment Wasn't Enough
Coroner Ingrid Giles found the fire couldn't be extinguished until the local Country Fire Authority arrived 12 to 13 minutes later. She called the deaths "unspeakably tragic."
The men had been racing in a modified Can-Am Maverick X3 side-by-side buggy capable of reaching speeds of 130km/h. It'd been fitted with hand-held fire extinguishers and two auxiliary 35-litre fuel tanks. Giles said the vehicle had been inspected by a scrutineer the Friday before racing and was compliant with Motorsport Australia requirements.
Victoria Police arson chemist John Kelleher said the fire was likely caused by heat from the buggy's catalytic converter igniting fuel that spilled after the crash. "Having seen the buggy and watched the video footage of the fire starting, there is no doubt that the cause of the fire was the ignition of petrol vapour rising from the spilled fuel puddling beneath the filler," he said. "The position of the catalytic converter and its location immediately above the spilled fuel raises the possibility that it was the source of ignition."
A Design Flaw That Cost Lives
Giles found the fuel tanks had been installed correctly and were compliant with safety requirements at the time. But the tanks had a plastic fuel cap and filler neck that protruded from the buggy's safety cage, leaving them "vulnerable to damage." Upon collision, the cap detached from the filler neck on one of the tanks, which didn't contain a reflux valve. Because the filler neck wasn't fitted with a reflux valve, petrol flowed freely and was able to combust easily.
"I consider that, had a reflux valve been present, the fire would have most likely been prevented, in that the fuel would not have spilled freely from the tank," Giles said.
She found that Motorsport Australia regulations at the time required each competing vehicle to be fitted with a hand-held fire extinguisher, which was "inadequate" because the fire couldn't be safely extinguished without the CFA's help. A plumbed-in fire extinguisher system may have been more effective. "Plumbed-in systems are primarily designed to provide the occupants with an immediate extinguisher response that can increase the amount of time available to extricate from the vehicle during an incident, and limit the effect of the fire on the occupant," she said.
No Testing, No Enforcement
At the time of the event, MSA required vehicles to be designed so racing crews could exit their vehicle within 10 seconds during an emergency, but it was up to competitors to comply and the requirement wasn't formally assessed. Giles found that at the time of Gerald and Ede's collision, there was no mandatory self-extrication time frame and no testing was performed of competitors' ability to do so.
Giles credited MSA for making changes after the deaths and said its decisive action had "obviated the need for an extensive suite of coronial recommendations." Since the incident, MSA has mandated reflux valves in fuel tanks, banned any structures protruding outside safety cage structures and doubled the required capacity for hand-held fire extinguishers for off-road racing events.
Three-Year Rollout "Unnecessarily" Risks Lives
But Giles said that while MSA had introduced the implementation of mandatory plumbed-in fire extinguisher systems, an extended roll-out period of three years risked competitors' lives. "The lives of off-road racing competitors who do not already have such a system remain at greater risk in the event of a fire – and, in my view, unnecessarily so," she said.
She recommended that before the end of the 2026 racing season, Motorsport Australia and the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance require all off-road vehicles participating in sanctioned off-road events to be fitted with plumbed-in fire extinguisher systems. She also recommended mandatory testing of all competitors involved in racing competitions to ensure each occupant could self-extricate within 10 seconds, and that Motorsport Australia develop improved guidance for race organisers on what constitutes "appropriate firefighting equipment" at paddock areas of an event.
Why This Matters:
Two men died in a fire that a coroner says could have been prevented with equipment that wasn't required at the time. They'd followed the rules. Their vehicle passed inspection. But the regulations themselves were inadequate to protect them when disaster struck. While racing authorities have begun implementing stronger safety standards, the coroner's finding that a three-year rollout "unnecessarily" risks lives highlights a persistent tension between administrative convenience and worker safety. The men's deaths reveal how voluntary compliance and self-assessment in safety-critical situations can leave participants vulnerable, and how regulatory bodies must balance the sport's culture with their duty to protect competitors who trust that passing inspection means they're adequately protected. The coroner's call for mandatory testing and faster implementation recognizes that in matters of life and death, bureaucratic timelines can themselves become a safety hazard.