Nelson fire a 'full-blown inferno' within an hour

Merv Randall lives in Pidgeon Valley. He saw the fire start on Tuesday afternoon at about 1.30pm as a small plume of smoke - and then within an hour it had blown into a "full blown inferno". Despite the risk Mr Randall and his wife stayed overnight on their farm but evacuated on Wednesday morning when he saw the fire burning nearly on his doorstep.