On a scorching, cloudless summer's day, it was the perfect storm.
A tractor driver ploughs a stony, tinder-dry paddock while the mercury tops 28C. Tall, parched grass. A blustery, warm wind with low humidity and an "extreme" fire danger.
The result was a "Swiss cheese effect", where all of the holes managed to align, and the sparking of New Zealand's largest wildfire in more than 70 years.
February's great Pigeon Valley blaze, 30km south of Nelson, would burn out of control for days across 35km, destroy or damage 2300ha of pine forest, raze a three-bedroom home, multiple outbuildings, fences, shelter belts, pastures, and cause the evacuation of an entire town of around 2500 people.
Read more on this story at the NZ Herald.
