Brisbane man given top bravery award for preventing service station explosion

It was a quiet Wednesday night for Wade Capps. He was still recovering from a recent knee reconstruction and was heading to a local central Queensland service station for some cigarettes and milk. What happened next has resulted in him receiving one of the nation's top bravery awards.

The date was October 7, 2015. Mr Capps, 23 at the time, was living in the Rockhampton suburb of Berserker, but he now lives in the northern Brisbane suburb of Banyo. He was driving to the Coles Express service station on the corner of High Street and Musgrave Street in Berserker about 10.45pm.

As he pulled in to the service station, Mr Capps was confronted by a trail of fire, about 10-15 metres long, running from an ablaze bowser to the road and two men restraining another man. Without thinking he got out of his car and ran towards the flames.

In the moments prior to Mr Capps' arrival, a 39-year-old local man walked into the service station, picked up a pump, and sprayed petrol onto the driveway and around the bowser. He then used a cigarette lighter to ignite the fuel coming from the pump and on the ground, before saying that he wanted to kill himself.

The service station attendant shut off the fuel and called emergency services, as the man tried to reignite the pump. Three bystanders managed to restrain the man moments later.

It was at this point that Mr Capps arrived at the scene. He said as he saw what was happening in front of him he thought: "I had better put that fire out so I can go and get my milk".

He ran through the flames and climbed on top of a bowser to retrieve a fire extinguisher, as the other bowser continued to burn, at risk of exploding at any moment.

He then extinguished the fire and helped to restrain the man at the centre of the incident until police arrived.

Since that night almost two years ago, Mr Capps, now 25, has received several awards for his bravery, including an award from the Queensland Police Service.

The latest recognition of Mr Capps' valour came in the form of the Bravery Medal, the third highest bravery awards in Australia, which was announced last Wednesday. However, he does not believe he deserves any of them.

“I don’t think I deserve a bravery award, if you would have seen it you would have done the same thing,” he said.

“There was no thought in it, you quickly see what’s happening and react.

"There are other people out there who have done far greater things than what I did."

He was nominated by his partner Jaclyn, with whom he has three children - Lily-Rose, 6, Bentley, 3, and Brielle, 18 months.

“When I asked her why she had filled out the forms for me she said she wanted something for the kids to remember us by when we’re gone,” he said.

Mr Capps received a letter on Wednesday advising him of the award, with details of a presentation ceremony in Brisbane yet to be announced.