Nothing could have prevented 'freak accident' that killed volunteer firefighter

Nothing could have prevented the "freak accident" that killed a NSW volunteer firefighter and father-to-be.

Samuel McPaul, 28, died near Jingellic, east of Albury, when an eight-tonne truck loaded with water was flipped by cyclonic winds yesterday.

A NSW Rural Fire Service member visited the site of the accident today, telling 9News the highly trained crew were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing at the time.

"They'd come out of the hills where they were in pretty arduous fire country, positioned themselves in clear country, (on) clear ground, the normal thing we do when we pull back to a safe distance from a fire in the hills," he said.

"Everything was positioned properly and a freak wind came down out of the hills along the valley and flipped the truck.

"The wind picked the car up, spun it around, blew it three or four metres across the road, down the side and into the ditch."

He said he'd never seen anything like it before.

"(It was an) absolute freak accident that nobody could do anything with."