Firefighters battled a blaze at a massage parlour in central Auckland this afternoon.

Fire crews are still dampening down hotspots after a bush fire destroyed one house and forced the evacuation of several others in Roxburgh overnight.

Meet Auckland's only civilian dog search combination - Bridget Martin and Zinzan.

Dozens of drunk drivers, many with sober passengers, were caught by police near a popular campground despite warnings and a highly visible booze bus.

More than a quarter of all fire call-outs in the past financial year were false alarms, at a cost to taxpayers of up to $25 million.

A notoriously dangerous stretch of Northland beach has claimed the life of an Auckland man trying to pull his grandchildren from a rip.

Sea lice bites, swimmers' rash, summer rash - whatever you want to call it, it's rife at this time of year and drives swimmers crazy.

A teenager was in a critical condition last night after two cars collided and one spun off the road and burst into flames.

Shot in both legs, Constable Snow fell, screaming for help. One bullet severed an artery in his leg and he was bleeding to death.

A Christmas party on a luxury yacht turned tragic with the "suspicious death" of a party-goer.

Railway lines near an Auckland train station have been closed after the discovery of a person's body early today, police said.

A lethal combination of soaring temperatures and high winds gave the New South Wales bushfire season a vicious jolt with more than 80 fires raging across the state.

The sentencing of two companies and a company director over a fatal coolstore explosion in the Waikato has given firefighters closure.

Big fines and reparation bills have been given to two companies and a company director charged over last year's fatal Waikato coolstore fire.