by Peter Sansom
Police have been unable to identify or catch an arsonist who is still at large, and still lighting fires in your Park Lands. There have been 32 fires (so far) since November, but it’s not clear whether they have all been lit by a single arsonist.
SA Police issued an alert on 28 December after a spate of grass fires was reported the previous evening in several Parks, including Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21) in the south, and Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25) in the north-western Park Lands.
One of the fires reported on the evening 27 December 2025, in Veale Park /Walyu Yarta (Park 21).
On 27 December, I was simply enjoying a walk in Veale Gardens, when I noticed smoke coming from the native scrub area just beyond the access road.
I went to investigate and sure enough a fair area was ablaze. I called the MFS and they turned up very quickly, attacking the fire that seemed to have a couple of points where it had started.
An MFS firefighter at work in Veale Park on 27 December 2025. Pic: Peter Sansom
It wasn’t until later that I heard on the news that there had been other, subsequent fires not too far away.
I wondered how many fires there had been and decided to map them using the SA Paging website. This website has a live emergency services pager feed for MFS, CFS, SES and Ambulance.
I filtered the search and went as far back as November 2025. By Friday 23 January, I had identified 32 “grass fires” reported in your Park Lands in less than three months. I’ve located them all on this Google map.
Location of 32 fires in the Adelaide Park Lands, from November 2025 to January 2026.
From this map I have identified two particular “hot spots”, if you will pardon the pun.
There have been seven reported fires in the Narnungga Urban Forest, i.e. the triangular, western part of Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25). Some have been campfires, others “possessions on fire” and some just reported as spot grass fires. It seems that there must be a good number of people frequenting this Park.
The next spot where the most fires have occurred is Veale Park /Walyu Yarta (Park 21) - not in the lush and manicured Veale Gardens, but in the southern part of the Park in the native scrub areas. They are out of the way spots, that not a lot of people venture into.
Aftermath on 30 December, of a different fire in Park 21. Pics: Peter Sansom
I have gone over to examine the extent of these fires on a few occasions, just to see what is going on.
They have been only small fires due to the rapid attendance of the MFS, on each location.
These areas are very dry at the moment, with lots of dry branches, grasses, leaf litter and native trees. Luckily the gravel access road gives quick access to the Fire Brigade.
The gravel access road which allowed the MFS to enter Veale Park/ Walyu Yarta (Park 21) from Sir Lewis Cohen Ave.
One of the fires targeted a section of the adjacent Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West).
A fire was reported in a secluded location not far from the corner of Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue and Greenhill Road, where native bush regeneration has been undertaken by Trees for Life volunteers.
There are spots in there where you wouldn’t even know you are in the middle of the city. The fire in there was well off any access road and it’s fortunate that it did not spread far.
Aftermath on 31 December, of the fire in the bush regeneration area of Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra (Park 21 West). Pic: Peter Sansom
The latest fire in Park 21 occurred on the evening of Thursday 22 January. I heard the sirens and could smell a faint whiff of smoke, so I checked the pager feed and sure enough, a grass fire had been reported near the Pavilion.
I ventured over the following morning, 23 January, to see what had burnt. I found nine different trees had each been set on fire, their trunks burnt. These trees were scattered over a wide area. There is no way these trees had caught fire by a spreading blaze. There was no burning on the ground between trees; only on the trunks and up into the branches.
I just hope the Police have some idea of who is deliberately lighting these fires. It does seem to be focused on the Park 21 area but I do notice a few fires also near the Marshmallow playground area in Park 19, and near the West Terrace Cemetery in Park 23.
Are they all linked? I think it’s unlikely to all be the work of a single arsonist.
There are a good number of people living in the Park Lands these days and campfires can get out of control. But I can not believe that people would set fire to their own campsites either.
So keep on the lookout when out enjoying your amazing Park Lands.
