Upper Murray coroners findings into Samuel McPaul's death due next year

Mr McPaul died when a fire truck he was travelling in the back of rolled onto its roof at Jingellic on December 30, 2019.

Rodney O'Keeffe, who was also in the rear, was badly burnt and his cousin, driver Andrew Godde, was also hospitalised.

Crash reconstruction specialist Mark Sculthorpe attended the scene on January 3 last year and examined the damaged truck and gouge marks in the ground.

He told a coronial inquest on Thursday he was immediately surprised by what he saw.

The damage he said, "didn't make sense".

His examinations showed that unlike a normal rollover, the marks and damage suggested the 10-tonne truck had been lifted up by its wheels by extreme forces.

"It could not have simply rolled over onto its roof but was picked up and flipped onto its roof," he said in a report.

The rear wheels would have been lifted by at least 3.2 metres, which was high enough for the front bullbar to dig into the ground.

He was asked what caused this.

"An incredible force that lifted it and spun it on its front," Mr Sculthorpe replied.

"An incredible force that I have never witnessed in all my years of this line of work."

The truck, he said, was picked up and flipped over.

The investigator first began examining crashes when he joined NSW Police in 1981 before moving into a specialist crash unit.

He began doing crash reconstructions for police and has run his own consultancy business for 24 years.

He said he had been involved in thousands of investigations.

Weather expert Dr Mika Peace said the fire vortex at the property had a depth of about five kilometres.

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"The energy associated with that weather system is quite phenomenal," she said.

It had winds of between 218km/h and 320km/h.

The inquest into Mr McPaul's death concluded with photographs of the late 29-year-old and his family, and tributes written by his wife Megan and mother Chris.

His wife, who gave birth to their son in May last year, said Mr McPaul had been excited to become a father.

"Most of all his love is missed each and every day by those who were closest to him," she said.

Chris said she missed her only child every day.

"Sam was the sunshine in my days and the wind beneath my wings," she said.

Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan said the late man deserved enormous gratitude from the community.

Her findings will be delivered next year.

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