A man who lost his wife, 5-year-old son and mother-in-law in a fatal house fire on Thursday has opened his eyes for the first time since the tragedy.

An 11-year-old girl who escaped the fatal house fire which claimed the lives of her mother, brother and grandmother is inconsolable with grief.

Police have serious concerns for the occupant of the Waverley home which was destroyed by a fire on Monday.

A fundraising effort has begun for a man whose wife, son and mother-in-law died in a fire yesterday.

A kitten who had been evading fire crews for weeks made a 'leap of faith' from a towering palm tree yesterday while trying to make a run for it again.

A truck used to destroy sensitive documents catches fire outside the Treasury building in Wellington this morning.

A person has been taken to hospital after a fire in a block of flats in Invercargill overnight.

Three generations of the family of a prominent New Zealand refugee advocate have died in fatal house fire in South Auckland earlier today.

After extensive fire damage the Greymouth fishing boat Te Aroha has risen from the ashes and is back trawling off the West Coast.

A neighbour says she can't get the sound of cries out of her head after a house fire killed three people in South Auckland this morning.

Burglars snuck into the destroyed two-story house and stole the only salvageable items including a TV, a cabinet and food.

A "body" discovered at a South Taranaki property completely destroyed by a fire yesterday was in fact the remains of an animal - but the search for the property's owner continues.

Firefighters attended a blaze on a traffic island in a busy Auckland city road this afternoon.

A body has been discovered in the remains of a Taranaki home gutted by fire.

Firefighters grateful for change of heart on legal troubles.

Firefighters battled a blaze that gutted a two-story house in Christchurch this evening.

A house was engulfed in flames in South Taranaki today.

Firefighters are working in warm conditions to douse the fire at Te Hauke, south of Hastings.

A caretaker's shed and boiler room are on fire at Riverhills Primary School.

Four fire crews and a command unit are battling a blaze in a classroom at Redwood Primary School in Christchurch.

Fire broke out in the bedroom of a Pukekohe house this morning.

A child playing with a lighter is believed to have started the fire that destroyed a house in Otumoetai yesterday. The fire service

Fire crews are fighting a vegetation fire south of Dunedin this morning.

Residents who were evacuated this afternoon have been allowed to return to their homes tonight.

Karl Henderson found himself locked outside his burning shop when he realised his dog Stella was stuck inside. Wife Tracy had woken

Firefighters battling blaze at Wellington school.

The wildfires that tore through East Tennessee killed 14 people last week and left nearly 150 others injured.

A Wellington home has been gutted by fire overnight in a suspected arson.

An abandoned house at Runanga went up in smoke early today - the fourth building fire in the area in a month.

Police suspect arson after six car fires in Christchurch overnight.