A paraglider pilot flown to hospital this morning with leg injuries has been praised for his quick-thinking.

A woman was rescued from the Auckland Islands by helicopter late yesterday evening.

The exact cause of the suspicious Mt Maunganui blaze remains unknown but investigators at the site today have found no evidence of a natural cause.

A surfer survived a close encounter with a fin at a remote beach yesterday - but it wasn't the sort of fin you'd expect.

Fire-ravaged Mt Maunganui will be completely closed until midday tomorrow.

Three teenagers suffered burn injuries late tonight when a fire broke out in a car they were in.

WATCH: An elderly Christchurch woman was walking her dog this morning when it decided to jump into the Heathcote River.

Fire Service spokesman Andrew Norris said crews were alerted to the fire shortly before 6pm.

One person has died in a collision between a motorcycle and a van in central Hamilton this afternoon.

Police are working to track down the suppliers of illicit drugs after seven people were hospitalised in Auckland.

Two people rushed to hospital from an Auckland brothel this morning are believed to have ingested the drug GHB, police say.

Emergency services are at the scene of a two-car crash between Patetonga and Torehape on the western side of the Hauraki Plains.

In the afternoon's most serious crash, just before 4pm, at least seven people were injured and State Highway 2 was closed near Bombay, south of Auckland. St John was alerted to the accident at 2.36pm and sent a rescue helicopter and four ambulances to the scene. The incident happened on State Highway 2 near Avon Rd, just east of the intersection with State Highway 1.

Five children believed to be among 20+ injured on NZ's roads today after a horror start to the year. One person was killed early this morning.

At least 100 firefighters are dealing with fires and car crashes throughout the area tonight.

A garage in the Auckland suburb of Piha has gone up in flames tonight.

Emergency services are at the scene on the Northern Motorway and the Waitemata Serious Crash Unit has arrived.

Firefighters undertook a "delicate operation" at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital this morning.

Three drown, one person missing, and another in serious condition.

One person has been critically injured in a road accident in Ranui.

A firefighter rescued two people from a Bleheim house fire early this morning.

A 12-year-old boy remains in critical condition after falling through a skylight while walking on the roof of a school.

An 11-year-old boy has died following a fall in a lift in a house that was being renovated north of Auckland.

Fire fighters were called to a single storey two-unit block of flats on Arthur Grove in Waikanae about 7.30pm.

Two car crashes this evening in the North Island have left three people injured, two of them seriously.

David Hills was killed on Saturday travelling back to Palmerston North with friends in a crash with a truck that left their car barely recognisable.

Smoke billowing over city as bush fire rages on city's North Shore.

The man who received life threatening injuries after being struck by a van in South Auckland remains in a critical condition this morning.

Driver who allegedly shunted into an Auckland mother's car remembers very little.

Although the driver appeared uninjured, some of the vehicle's contents had landed in the stream.