Nelson fire was a baby and already a monster when the first man on the scene called 111

Friday, 8 February 2019

The man first on the scene of the destructive Nelson bush fire says it was 'mind blowing' watching the fire rip through the countryside within seconds of igniting.

Hydraulic technician Joel Scott was heading home from a day working in the bush when he came across 'puffs of blue smoke' billowing from a paddock in the bone-dry Pigeon Valley, about 30km south of Nelson.

Scott got out of his car and ran towards a tractor driver, who was using machinery on the field.

The Nelson fire is believed to have started from a spark caused by a tractor driver 'discing' a field.

'At first I just thought that potentially someone had lit a bonfire or a small burn off or something. I was actually going over there to give the guy a mouth full, but I soon realised when I got out of the vehicle it was not lit on purpose.'

**READ MORE:

The first photos of the Pigeon Valley bush fire taken by Joel Scott.

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Hydraulic technician Joel Scott was first on the scene of the Pigeon Valley bush fire.

* Nelson bush fire: It started here, but farmer's spokesman says it's too soon to say how**

The tractor driver, a local contractor working on land leased by farmer Ian Parkes, was very confused and flustered, he said.

A view of the inferno from Katania Heights on Thursday night.

'I asked him if he had called emergency services but he had no reception,' Scott said.

At about 2.13pm, Scott phoned 111 and took the first photo of the fire. He then quickly ran around the property opening farm gates so fire crews could easily get to the blaze.

Within about 30 seconds of contacting emergency services, the fire, which was being aided by strong gusts of wind, quickly burned its way up the nearby hillside.

Plumes of smoke covered Pigeon Valley near Nelson as the fire ripped through bush.

'I knew within the first two minutes it was out of control … the wind was blowing about 20 kilometres an hour and it just hooked up the ridge line.

'I called 111 back a second time and knew at that stage the ground appliances couldn't really do anything. I said, 'get the helicopters here and you have to get them here quickly'.'

The blaze ripped through bush in a matter of seconds.

Scott waited by the road to direct crews into the property. He left after about five fire trucks were on the scene.

The destructive blaze highlighted the fact most people in the area did not have a proper understanding of how dry the area really was, he said.

Scott said he had been questioning whether he had done enough to help contain the fire.

'Initially in that first 24 hours it was hard to deal with, but as time goes on you get reassurance from people that there really was nothing more we could do.

'I've just been trying to focus on the positive that the alarm was raised so quickly.'

He met with fire investigators on Thursday at the property where the fire was ignited.

There they pieced together Scott's movements and where he was when he took photos of the fire.