Amid panic-buying of toilet paper across Australia spurred by fears of a coronavirus pandemic, a semi-trailer carrying the now-precious commodity has burst into flames on a major Brisbane bridge.

The truck was carrying a load of wood, toilet paper and paper towels when it caught fire on the Gateway Motorway bridge at Murrarie about 9.45pm on Wednesday.

Northbound lanes of the bridge were closed as crews worked to clean up the mess. The driver escaped the truck without injury.

Firefighters remained on the scene until about 1am, with two lanes closed for repairs to the road surface into the morning. All lanes were cleared by about 6.30am.