An Auckland man was so inspired by a toy ambulance fundraising campaign, he donated a fully functioning ambulance and rapid response vehicle to St John.

Police are not immediately able to confirm how many people have died in the 4pm crash involving a car and a truck on State Highway 1, near Chertsey.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the intersection of Margaret St and Tirau St in Putaruru at 8pm.

Two people are dead and five others have been injured in a two-car smash near Twizel in the South Island tonight.

A Fire Service spokesman said firefighters from Invercargill Station were called to a house fire in Ettrick St at 5.40pm.

The first incident involved a nine-year-old boy who came off his motorcycle at a southern Waikato motocross event.

One person has died after the campervan they were travelling in caught fire in an accident on a Matamata Road.

A woman has been flown to hospital by helicopter after she was injured in a head-on crash north of Wellington this afternoon.

The vehicles collided at the intersection of Swanson Rd and Metcalfe Rd, Swanson, about 1.45pm.

In emergency situations, Aucklanders want WiFi internet restored before water, a survey revealed.

A fire broke out just before 3.30 this morning in a cafe on the ground floor of the Ocean Breeze apartments in Browns Bay.

Lucy Knight - the good samaritan who almost lost her life after going to the aid of a woman being mugged in Auckland - is the new face of St John Ambulance’s annual appeal.

Andrew Jones measures his survival from a near-deadly heart attack in 5-minute events. His cardiologist said it was the difference between life and death.

A man has died following a single-car crash early this morning.

The hunter shot dead in the Ruahine Ranges yesterday was 23-year-old Danny Rion Jordan.

A South Auckland laundromat has been badly damaged by fire overnight.

Fire ripped through a Christchurch family's dream home hours after they moved in.

WATCH: Nerolie Curran does not use the word hero to describe the woman who saved her daughter's life. It's not enough.

Detectives are investigating a number of fights that broke out in downtown Auckland which left two young men seriously injured.

The pedestrian, aged about 45 to 50, was taken to hospital in critical condition after being hit on Grey's Avenue about 8.45am, a St John spokeswoman said.

Colin James Rimmer, known as CJ by his grandchildren, died last Wednesday while carrying out gardening work in Mellons Bay.

One man is in hospital with a serious head injury after the car he was driving rolled on a South Island road early this morning.

A man has died after falling from a cliff while carrying out gardening work at Mellons Bay, Auckland.

A climber who was reported missing on Mt Taranaki last night has been rescued in the early hours of this morning.

Two people are dead and one left fighting for his life after three separate water-related incidences over the weekend.

Emergency services responded to the incident at 10am yesterday on a farm inland from Porangahau, Hawkes Bay.

It has been burning in 25 hectares of bush in steep terrain on Vernon Station, near Blenheim.

A rescue is underway near Raglan after a person was sucked out to sea out by a rip this afternoon.

Principal Rural Fire Officer Richard McNamara says five planes and ground crews worked on the scene until it got dark, when the aircraft were withdrawn.