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Richard McNamara says five planes and ground crews worked on the scene until it got dark, when the aircraft were withdrawn.

A woman is in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital tonight after being struck by a vehicle near the city's airport.

Road blocks have been put in place and homes are being evacuated after a burn-off in Canterbury went out of control in high winds.

"One of the tyres exploded off it to the side of the road and set bush on the side of the road on fire."

A mother was found dead on her living room floor after a nurse cancelled an ambulance that was just one minute away.

A scrub fire in Upper Hutt has forced homes to be evacuated, a firefighter to be hospitalised and roads to be closed.

The Waimate Hotel in Manaia, south of New Plymouth, has been destroyed by fire.

The Waimate Hotel in Manaia, south of New Plymouth, has been destroyed by fire early this morning.

A woman was trapped in her car for over an hour after a crash in Dairy Flat this evening.

A child remains in a critical condition and a woman has been transferred to Auckland City Hospital after two people died in a crash in rural Waikato.

New Zealand's main ambulance service has warned it will need to hike charges or stop going to some emergencies.

We have a very good ambulance service, provided largely by volunteers and partly financed by charges to those who are taken to hospital in emergencies.

Marlene Dormer died as a lone ambulance officer struggled to keep her alive. Her daughter tells Martin Johnston that it's time to change an unsafe system.

Up to 12 fire trucks have been called out to the blaze on Ballymore Drive, in Pinehill, just after 4pm.

A woman who couldn't make a phone call asked for help on Reddit and a Kiwi reader came to the rescue.

A man in his 60s was flown to hospital after a near-drowning at New Chums Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula this afternoon.

An American couple involved in a fatal crash in South Waikato had been travelling on New Zealand roads for only a few days before the collision.

A Police spokeswoman said the suspicious item in Mission Bay was a small blue chilly bin with suspicious contents.

The tragedy happened off the Ahipara Beach end of 90 Mile Beach about 4.40pm.

Police said two men on a small boat had got into some difficulty and were unable to get back to shore.

Twenty fire crews and a helicopter's been involved in the fire fight, which broke out on the hills behind Maidstone Park about 3:30 this afternoon.

A Coastguard skipper has described finding the man who clung to a petrol container for seven hours overnight after his boat capsized.

Emergency services were called to the speedway about 7pm, where the New Zealand Midget Championship is taking place this weekend.