Police probe suspicious roadside fires across Hunter, appeal over white Mazda SUV

newy.com.au – Police are seeking public assistance after a series of suspicious grass fires were reported across Sawyers Gully, Buchanan and Black Hill in the Hunter Valley on Sunday 30 November 2025.

NSW Police say multiple small fires were lit along roadsides over a four-hour period, prompting a response from the NSW Rural Fire Service but causing no reported injuries or damage to vehicles or property.

Emergency services were first called about 12.20pm to the corner of Frame Drive and Gingers Lane at Sawyers Gully following reports of a grass fire.

About 10 minutes later, around 12.30pm, crews were called again to John Renshaw Drive at Buchanan after reports of two further grass fires in the area. NSW Rural Fire Service crews attended the scenes and extinguished the blazes.

Police said emergency services were called a third time about 3.40pm to a fire on a grass verge along John Renshaw Drive at Black Hill. Not long after, further emergency services responded to another fire on a grass verge in Averys Lane at Buchanan. Both of those fires were also brought under control.

There were no reports of anyone being hurt and no vehicles or property were reported damaged as a result of the incidents.

Officers from Hunter Valley Police District attended each location and established crime scenes while they began inquiries into the circumstances of the fires, which are being treated as suspicious.

As part of those inquiries, police are focusing on a white Mazda SUV that was last seen in Kurri Kurri about 3.30pm on Sunday. Investigators are appealing for information about the vehicle and have released an image of the Mazda as they work to piece together its movements.

Police are urging anyone who was in the Sawyers Gully, Buchanan or Kurri Kurri areas between 12pm and 4pm on Sunday and who may have CCTV or dash cam footage to come forward. They are particularly interested in footage from roads around Frame Drive, Gingers Lane, John Renshaw Drive and Averys Lane.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Hunter Valley Police District or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the online portal. Police say information will be managed on a confidential basis and have reminded the public not to report information through NSW Police social media pages.