Two injured in branch fall at Aberfoyle Park, days after tree hurts people at Womad

Tree experts have warned extreme dry conditions could lead to more fallen limbs, and say special attention must be paid when events are held in parks.

In what has been South Australia’s driest summer in 33 years, experts say the lack of tree care creates serious issues, particularly for events.
This week, branches have fallen and injured multiple people at WOMADelaide and Aberfoyle Park.

Adelaide Tree Farm owner Amy Woollard said the drought had played a large part in the recent branch snaps.

“If the whole tree is really dry, it’s definitely going to be prone to wind gusts and be more fragile and more brittle” she said.

She said the mentality of conserving water, particularly in summer, might hinder a cooler environment.

The aftermath of a tree fall in Aberfoyle Park that put two people in hospital. Picture: Facebook.

“It’s South Australia, it’s the middle of summer. We’re the driest state and one of the driest continents in the world,” Ms Woollard said.

“You’ve got to keep (plants) cool, keep it irrigated if you want it to survive these hot spells, and the key is watering before the hot day”.
Urban tree ecologist from University of Melbourne, Dr Greg Moore said the shifts from dry weather to wet swells can cause “major problems with infrastructure”.

. He added that trees don’t usually shed large limbs unless “stressed” out.

“In very large parks, very often, they simply don’t irrigate them all. It’s pretty much left to nature to irrigate and for the trees to survive,” Dr Moore said.

“If you’re going to have a major public event, you always have an arborist come in, before the event just to have a look at the trees. And if there are any trees that are a bit suspect, you can temporarily fence them off.”
A falling tree limb hospitalised a southern suburbs couple, just a day after two others were injured when a branch dropped on attendees at an Adelaide festival, as the local council says it was trimmed in January and due for a follow-up check.

Around 6.50pm on Tuesday, emergency services were called to initial reports of a tree falling on a person and trapping them.

The tree branch fell on Marilyn and John Fuss outside their home at Carmine CT, Aberfoyle Park.

One of the victims, Marilyn Fuss. Picture: Facebook.

She suffered a head wound. Picture: Facebook.

Ms Fuss, 64, said she had just got home from work when the incident happened.

“I got home from work, and my dogs ran down to greet me as they always do.

“John came down the street, he must have just walked past me as I bent down to pick them up, and I just heard this almighty crack.”

“I put my hands up to try and stop it, and it just fell on my head.”

The mother of three said her husband John, 70, was hit in the chest and pushed across the driveway, and remained trapped under the branch until firefighters cut him free.

She said her first thought after she was struck was for her dogs, who were underneath her when the branch fell.

Marilyn Fuss, 64, and dogs Taco and Tilly after their encounter with a falling tree branch outside their Aberfoyle Park home. Picture: Aden Hill

A neighbour who rushed to scene collected the two Chihuahuas, named Taco and Tilly, and put them back inside the house as Mr Fuss pulled his phone from his pocket and called an ambulance, all while trapped under the fallen limb.

The couple, who have lived on the street for 22 years, were taken to Flinders Medical Centre, where Ms Fuss had ten staples put in her head, before being released around 2am on Wednesday.

Ms Fuss said she had spoken to the council about the tree – which also dropped a branch on New Year’s Eve – only last week, and was told it was on their list to be cut back.

“It (the branch) wouldn’t have landed on my head if they’d have come and cut it off,” she said

“I guess I feel lucky. I’m alive.”

Neighbour Ros Huddleston rushed to help and said Ms Fuss was left “profusely bleeding”.

Ms Huddleston said she came home on Tuesday night to find Ms Fuss on her lawn with a “big bandage” around her head.

“There was just blood everywhere,” Ms Huddleston said.

A close-up of the branch that fell. Picture: Facebook.

“Every time we get high winds, which we do through here, it scares us every single time.”

Ms Huddleston said the Fuss’s were “beautiful people” and “the best neighbours anybody could have”.

“She’s my go-to lady.”

“I’m hoping for a full recovery.”

Onkaparinga Council, which has responsibility for trees in the area, said it took up to six weeks to check trees reported as dangerous.

Mayor Moira Were said the council trimmed the tree that fell on the couple in January and it was on the list for a follow up.

“There was a thought maybe we need to prune it back bit more so it was definitely on the list to be done very soon,” she said.

“But the tree had another idea and with these drought conditions it decided to shed another limb early.

She said council checked trees on rotation and followed a “scheduled based on urgency” for tree maintenance, but hot weather made them unpredictable.

“Sometimes it’s been two to six weeks, sometimes it’s a little longer depending on the demand and also, the level of damage the tree might inflict,” Ms Were said.

“In drought conditions an individual tree will do its own thing.

“I’m really sorry that it happened to them and I encourage everyone to be really careful around trees particularly in these drought conditions.”

MFS, SES, CFS and ambulance personnel responded to the incident, with the SES saying they were able to remove the tree.

It comes just a day after two people were injured after a tree limb fell at WOMADelaide in the Botanic Park.

The large tree branch that fell at WOMADelaide, injuring two people . Picture: Rod Savage

The incident happened on Monday evening, near a dining area when witnesses reported an almighty crack and the huge branch fell.

SA Ambulance said a 55-year-old man was under the tree and treated at the scene by ambulance members.

Another person was treated by St John’s Ambulance, a WOMADelaide spokesperson said.

Both reported minor injuries, however one was later taken to hospital.

The SES issued a warning, saying trees were suffering from prolonged heat stress and were vulnerable to dropping large branches and limbs.

The man’s miracle escape comes after a 22-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in North Adelaide early last year.

International student Alifia Soeryo died after an eight-tonne gum tree branch fell on her in the Adelaide Parklands on February 7, 2024.