The partner of a truck driver who freed two people from their vehicles after a horror crash on the Calder Freeway on Tuesday says he is a "reluctant hero".
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Renzo Bruschi, 49, was driving a truck that was involved in the multi-vehicle smash. After getting out of his vehicle, he freed the driver of a rolled fuel tanker and a woman trapped in another car.
His partner, Cara Scott, said Mr Bruschi did all this despite being covered in tanker fuel himself, and having been left sore and disoriented by the crash.
"He's a very reluctant hero," Ms Scott said. "He feels he did what anyone would have done in that situation."
Mr Bruschi had been talking to Ms Scott on a hands-free phone call when the crash happened on Tuesday morning, and she said she heard the impact.
"We were just chatting away, and then I heard crashing and screaming. I didn't know what was happening."
There was a moment's silence from within his cabin, and after that the first thing Mr Bruschi did was tell his partner of two years that he was safe.
Police believe the driver of the fuel tanker swerved to avoid a car that pulled out in front of it. The tanker overturned, spilling about 20,000 litres of petrol onto the road.
The resulting crash, described as one of Melbourne's worst, involved seven vehicles, with the truck and a number of other cars colliding.
Mr Bruschi, who suffered minor injuries and is now resting at home, reacted to the screams for help from the trapped motorists, and told Ms Scott he would finish the call and help them out.
"But he didn't hang up the phone. I could hear him screaming 'I'm coming' to the others," she said.
"He was covered in fuel, and there was fuel going over his truck. He helped out the tanker driver, who was terrified of being incinerated."
He then turned his attention to a woman who was trapped in another car, and pulled her to freedom.
"Everyone else was standing on the edge of the petrol, but because he was in there he did what he had to do," she said.
"He was terrified it was about to blow, but instinct told him to get the other people out in case they were incinerated."
In a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Scott applauded Mr Bruschi's "incredible act of bravery and selflessness":
Ms Scott said Mr Bruschi, who did not want to talk to the media on Thursday, has been stunned by all the attention his bravery has garnered.
She said he hoped to return to work driving trucks on Monday.
