Updated
The first responders to a fatal speedway crash say Queensland Raceway had broken first aid equipment, ran out of fire extinguishers and were too slow to respond.
Kurt Bull, 32, and Daniel King, 41, died when their Holden CV8 Monaro Turbo hit a wall during a Roll Racing event on Saturday night at Ipswich, while their partners and children watched on.
Queensland Raceway said early reports suggested the car had jammed a throttle.
Former Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic Tom Saurine was in the car behind, and has condemned the raceway's actions.
"Unfortunately the training and the response was lacking!" he wrote on Facebook.
"Not only did they run out or [sic] fire extinguishers which hampered us pulling them from the wreckage, but their first aid knowledge was lacking in a trauma aspect and their equipment also.
"They could not provide me with a non rebreather mask!
"Their first defibrillator was not working!"
Mr Saurine and his friend Anna Mason said they pulled the men from the wreckage before it caught fire and commenced CPR, but they could not be revived.
Ms Mason wrote on social media Queensland Raceway should be held accountable for the state of its first aid kits.
"The fact Tom ran over, got the two men from the cars and had started working on them, organised people to jump in and help before officials got there was shocking," she wrote.
Queensland Raceway chief executive John Tetley declined to comment when contacted by the ABC but referred to a statement issued on Sunday.
It said about 90 kilograms of fire retardant was used after the driver and passenger had been extricated.
The Roll Racing event, which involves racing modified street cars, is not overseen by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS).
CAMS took part in developing recommendations for Queensland Raceway following the death of British race car driver Sean Edwards in 2013, at the request of deputy state coroner John Lock.
It is not known if those recommendations have been implemented, and questions about this to Queensland Raceway have not been answered.
Racing enthusiast and Queensland Raceway attendee Noel Teelow defended track officials but said the tragedy would be a "major wakeup call" for competitors who had become "lax" with safety.
"We've had so much fun at this particular event without any incidents," he said.
"They all still want to do it but nobody wants to not come home from an event like that."
Mr Teelow said Queensland Raceway officials did everything they could and have been greatly affected by the incident.
"Queensland Raceway is unquestionably the safest race track in Australia by virtue of the fact that it is the newest and at the time all the modern safety standards had been incorporated," he said.
"The raceway has a minimum standard but there's still a lot of responsibility on the car owner and driver."
Topics: racing, sport, workplace, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, willowbank-4306, ipswich-4305, qld, brisbane-4000
First posted