The driver of a milk delivery truck was left pinned after his vehicle rolled between Rotorua and Tauranga.

Some of his cargo began to catch fire shortly after the crash around 9am on State Highway 33, but luckily good samaritans rushed to his aid and extinguished the spot fires before they took off and became dangerous.

A former nurse, who asked not to be named, was the first at the scene.

"I arrived as the milk was sliding down the hill," she says.

"Everyone who arrived was really quick at assisting the driver. I called out for extinguishers and suddenly there were about three of them being used to put out the fires."

The woman headed to the tipped vehicle to find the driver pinned inside.

"He was in a lot of pain but still talking," she says.

"We decided it was best to leave him in there as we could have done more harm to him getting him out. I called the ambulance at 8.54am."

Witnesses rushed to put out small fires that began in the cargo after the crash.

Fire and Emergency NZ had to cut the driver from the truck. His condition was not known.

The former nurse travels the stretch of road often and says it is becoming an all-too-common occurrence to see road accidents on the highway.

"It's been happening here for a number of years," she says.

"You come across accidents all the time.

"I do want to say all the people who helped were amazing. By the time the ambulance had arrived they had already got the road cleared of cargo and were all pitching in to keep people safe."

-Matt Shand/Stuff.co.nz