Three investigations are underway into how a helicopter pilot and war hero died fighting a fire, as Army chief Major General Peter Kelly pays tribute.

Brand new Canterbury tourist attraction unable to escape fire's wrath.

A yacht fire left a person suffering smoke inhalation this morning.

Helicopters with monsoon buckets are back in the air today as more than 100 residents of a Christchurch seaside community were evacuated from an approaching blaze.

As authorities continue to fight fires in Christchurch, a community mourns the loss of one of its own who just yesterday was among those battling the flames.

Security was high in the Hamilton Coroner's Court this morning as a witness was brought in from custody to give evidence.

Four homes were evacuated, but residents have since returned to their homes.

New Zealand is now experiencing the worst of the fire season, a top officer says, with a dangerous combination of high temperatures and low relative humidity creating tinder-dry conditions across eastern hot-spots.

He carried the All Blacks to two world titles, now Richie McCaw is flying people around two huge Port Hills fires.

It's a long, hot slog fighting a fire as big and complex as the one in the Hawke's Bay in the blazing heat. But it's also satisfying work.

More than a dozen helicopters, a plane and 100 firefighters continue to battle two massive Canterbury wildfires, but blazes in Hawke's Bay are now largely contained.

High winds to bring more misery to fire crews fighting bush blazes today, but no rain where it is needed.

One local resident described the terrifying moment when flames came right up to his family home on Waimarama Rd yesterday. Hawke's

Unison restored power to about 700 customers last night after it was cut during the blaze along Waimarama Rd. Unison relationship

The Airways Radar is also under threat from one of the two major bush fires burning near Christchurch.

Two bus-loads of school children are among those who have been escorted out of a Hawke's Bay fire zone, as several large fires burn throughout the district.

Tensions rose near the end of day one into an inquest into the deaths of three young Hamilton people after one of the witnesses changed his evidence.

NOT SUSPICIOUS: Fire investigators have revealed the fire at St John's Church last week was not suspicious. PHOTO/FILE A_080217bf20.JPG The

A home in Luggate was well ablaze by the time firefighters arrived at the property.

A bush fire near a Taupo native forest is well under control but it will take crews another few days to make sure it's completely out.

A man suffered serious burns after his campervan exploded in Taupo last night.

An abandoned house has burnt down overnight in Westport.

Two serious house fires have broken out in the North Island.

A large bushfire is blazing through forest and scrub northwest of Taupo.

Police have named the person who died in a shed fire in Christchurch on Thursday as 51-year-old Savita Devi Naidu.

The man who spent two hours trapped in a dam by an excavator has described how he survived in an emotional interview on the Today show.

A passenger aboard a cruise ship on which a crew member died has recounted the harrowing scenes which followed the incident. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT.

A small fire near the railway line between Parnell and Newmarket brought some Auckland trains a halt and caused delays for commuters

A person is dead after a shed fire in Christchurch this morning.

It appears that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco is not over yet. A "minor fire" broke out at the factory that manufactures the malicious