Very dry drought conditions saw it grow rapidly and it soon began threatening the town of Wakefield forcing a major evacuation of its three thousand residents .

[11] With the state of emergency lifted, work was continuing on 28 February to put out the fire completely, which it was feared might take weeks or months with conditions "bone dry".

[12] On 6 March 2019, Nelson Tasman Emergency Management Group posted a notification that the Pigeon Valley fire was "controlled" and residents were no longer required to be ready to evacuate.

[15] On 6 February, HUHA founder Carolyn Press-McKenzie arrived in Nelson to set up an animal welfare shelter at the Richmond Showgrounds.

Limited initial farm rescues were also carried out at the request of local farmers and with permission of MPI and the New Zealand Police[31][32] Animal casualties included 40 plus sheep which were euthanised after being unable to escape from a fenced enclosure during the fire and badly burnt[33][34] Volunteer organisations received widespread praise for their response from government agencies involved and the local residents.