Father’s Day shopping plans in turmoil as fire closes Adelaide Central Market

Shoppers have been advised the popular destination will remain closed, throwing the late Father’s Day rush into chaos.

For the first time in nearly 60 years, Adelaide’s busiest city market has shut its doors on Saturday trading.

The Adelaide Central Market has been evacuated and will remain shut for the rest of Saturday after a fire broke out in the carpark next door.

Father’s Day shoppers were escorted out when the alarm sounded just after 8am at the popular retail and hospitality destination on Grote St.

SA Police said that a “significant amount of smoke” made its way into Federal Hall and the market will remain closed while firefighters ventilate the building.

The alarm sounded just after 8am at the popular shopping plaza on Grote St. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Adelaide Central Market management has advised the plaza will remain shut for the rest of Saturday. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Other than a forced closure during the pandemic in 2020, The Advertiser understands this is the first time the Adelaide Central Markets have been shut on a Saturday since the old market was redeveloped in the 1960s.

MFS Commander Wayne Trezise told the media there were two separate fires after a second ignited following heat transfer from the initial blaze.

He said the ignition point of the first blaze was not yet known, but the fire was not being treated as suspicious.

“There was some building material in the car park area stored underneath one of the ramps, and that caught fire. We got to it quite quickly and we put it out within 15 minutes,” Mr Trezise said.

He said the markets were evacuated, but customers were allowed to return to the stores a short time later.

“Unfortunately, we had to use a bit of water for that, and that has started to drip down into the market area. We then had a reignition of an adjoining storeroom full of toilet paper. This created quite a bit of smoke, and we reinitiated the evacuation process and got everyone clear,” he said.

Early morning market shoppers were shocked to find the Adelaide Central Market closed on Saturday morning after emergency services were called out to reports of a fire in the car park.

Early morning market shoppers were shocked to find the Adelaide Central Market closed on Saturday morning after emergency services were called out to reports of a fire in the car park.

Early morning market shoppers were shocked to find the Adelaide Central Market closed on Saturday morning after emergency services were called out to reports of a fire in the car park.

“That fire was extinguished in five minutes, and we did use more water, and the water has come through and flooded the escalator area and some of the stalls inside the market.”

Shoppers and staff with their cars parked in the carpark were able to collect them, and let out of the markets with no cost for parking.

Mr Trezise said the blaze was not being treated as suspicious, but fire investigators were still trying to determine what caused it.

Retailers told The Advertiser they had spent weeks preparing for Father’s Day shopping, but Adelaide Central Market Authority general manager Fabienne Reilly said it was in the best interests of both staff and customers to close for the day.

“There’ll be a bit of water leakage but it’s not massive damage,” Ms Reilly said.

General manager of the Adelaide Central Market Authority Fabienne Reilly said it was in the best interests of both staff and customers to close the market for the day.

Adelaide Central Market employee Rachel Mallia said she smelled smoke while she was working.

“So what happened is we reopened the market thinking the fire was contained. There was a lot of smoke and we realised that was bad for traders and for customers. There was a high risk of slipping so we have decided to close for the day.

“It’s really unfortunate that it happened on a Saturday, but the safety of our staff and customers is paramount. We have 72 stores and it’s disappointing we can’t open on such a high visitation day.

“We ask our customers to continue supporting the markets and come back next week. We’ll reopen on Tuesday. We thank everyone for their patience.”

Rachel Mallia, who works in one of the stalls in the markets, told The Advertiser she was packing Father’s Day gift boxes when she noticed an unusual smell.

“It was kind of like an electrical burning smell,” Ms Mallia said.

“I was working away and I said to my colleague and I said can you smell something weird? Then we heard sirens and we were told to get out.

“Twice we were evacuated,” she said. “Why’d they let us back in the second time?”

“We were busy getting gifts ready for the big day. I think we’ve definitely lost a lot of business today. Today would have been very busy for us.

“We were just told by other staff that we would have to shut for the day.”

The Advertiser understands many of the traders have donated their food stock to food rescue services.