Firefighters have managed to contain a bush fire on the Wither Hills, near Blenheim.

Four people escaped with minor injures after a single-story home in the Waikato caught fire.

Two fire crews were called to the Te Rahu Rd address at Poroporo shortly after midnight.

Four appliances from Turangi and Taupo and the Rural Fire Authority helicopter have been battling the blaze since 2pm.

A multimillion-dollar Waiheke Island mansion, formerly linked to Mark Hotchin, has gone up in flames. The 1990 mansion, which was once owned by a trust, KA No3, linked to Mr Hotchin, was set ablaze on Saturday as part of a firefighting drill on the Hauraki Gulf island.

Attention is moving towards what caused the destructive fire that sparked on Tuesday.

A massive bushfire has cut off the South Island town of Hanmer Springs today. There were 17 fire crews fighting the blaze including rural tankers.

Fire crews were last night called to a fire in the sand dunes at New Brighton.

Five school staff are being treated for smoke inhalation after at fire at St Kentigern's School for girls.

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

A Hamilton family had a lucky escape from a fire which swept through a Dinsdale house early this morning.

Raucous couch-burning students in Dunedin have accidentally set a house on fire during their partying.

A 41-foot launch is on fire in the Marlborough Sounds.

A corporate box at a Nelson speedway was gutted by fire overnight.

Homes were evacuated as 18 fire crews and two helicopters battled a blaze which destroyed a house in Canterbury and put one person in hospital with burn injuries.

Seven fire crews and a helicopter have brought a large fire north of Pines Beach in Canterbury under control.

A man injured in a fire while doing demolition work at Marsden Pt oil refinery remained in Whangarei Hospital yesterday.

At its peak the fire was believed to be 1km in length and had 11 crews working to contain it.

Westland High School students and staff were back in a school routine yesterday, although not from the actual school premises, which remain cordoned off following the fire.

The vehicle, in a southbound lane near the Papakura exit, was burning fiercely when fire crews arrived at the scene.

A fire destroyed a home in Middlemarch yesterday and left the occupants, including a mother and her two sons, counting their losses.

Firefighters are battling a large house fire on Roscommon Road, Manurewa.

A 17-year-old will appear in court next week in relation to the fire on Paritutu Rock in New Plymouth last Friday.

Crews were called to the Hataitai Hot Bread Shop on Moxham Avenue just after 7.30 this morning.