The owners of a Picton house hit by a landslip yesterday have been told the property is temporarily unfit to live in.

Residents of a Picton house escaped injury today when a landslip hit their home and broke through a wall, as torrential rain lashed central New Zealand today.

A 55-year-old man has died in a motorbike accident on the Haast Pass this afternoon, the second motorcyclist death this week on the same stretch of highway.

A light plane crashed on Kumara Beach, near Hokitika, this afternoon but the pilot walked away.

A pilot has been forced to make a hasty landing after colliding with a cow at a rural airstrip this morning.

A historic piece of World War I memorabilia was blown up after an ambulance call-out went wrong in Manawatu this week.

A man is dead after being involved in an alcohol-fuelled brawl at a Waikato property yesterday.

Dwindling volunteer numbers and a rising number of non-emergency medical callouts were some of the key concerns raised at an annual firefighter's conference this weekend.

Life-saving training for flight nurses is under threat unless a sponsor can be found for mandatory helicopter training.

Auckland has only 10 service stations wired up to provide fuel to emergency services quickly if electricity is cut in a natural disaster.

Vehicle Inspection New Zealand has said the death of one of its workers was a tragic and unfortunate accident.

A man has died after being crushed by a vehicle at a Palmerston North vehicle testing facility this afternoon.

A woman has been arrested after two French tourists were pistol-whipped in an attack in Napier last night.

A gas main was ruptured by workers at a construction site in the Albion Lane area, Dunedin, about 8.45am. The Fire Service has finished dissipating remaining gas residues.

A large tsunami generated very close to the coast of New Zealand would arrive before warning sirens could be activated, a new report has found.

Firefighters from all over New Zealand attended a memorial service and took part in a stair challenge in the old BNZ Tower in downtown Auckland yesterday.

The driver of a van which collided with a group of cyclists in Waikato this afternoon has told of his shock at the scene of the crash.

A woman killed in a collision with a school bus in Taranaki yesterday was a young German national.

Terrified school children screamed and cried as their bus collided with a car, its windscreen shattered and it began to fill with smoke.