A house in the process of being sold has been destroyed by fire in Northland.

A Hamilton apartment block that severely damaged by fire early today is believed to have started after an occupant fell asleep smoking a cigarette, neighbours say.

An ammonia leak that threatened to force the evacuation of Bluff has been contained.

Fire services are searching for a person in a South Island property that had caught fire after they received reports the home was inhabited.

A fire that engulfed an Auckland home this evening has now been extinguished.

Fire crews were last night fighting a fire at a commercial property in the northern Waikato settlement of Tuakau.

A building has been severely damaged in a fire at a West Auckland beach this morning, with fire crews rushing to the scene at 9.46am.

A mother and infant were forced to seek safety on the balcony of their fifth-floor apartment during a fire in central Auckland tonight.

Six fire trucks were called to a fire at a two-storey bungalow in Ponsonby this afternoon.

A person is in hospital suffering from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a quarry used to film a climatic battle scene in the Lord of the Rings.

The Cottonwood St house was consumed by flames when the fire crews arrived at 2.45am today.

The house was well ablaze when crews arrived, Southern Fire Service shift manager Brent Dunn said.

One person is being treated for minor burns after a house caught on fire in Porirua, Wellington.

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.

WATCH: Smoke alarms credited for saving family of six.

Firefighters will return to the scene of the Hamner Springs Fire tomorrow at first light.

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.