Both places were called home by the vast foreign workforce drawn to the United Arab Emirates. Both caught fire last week.The similarities end there.

A house has been destroyed by fire in the central Auckland suburb of Onehunga this morning.

A helicopter is being used to dampen hot spots following an eight hectare fire in the Wellington suburb of Wainuiomata overnight.

A couple of close calls prove life is a series of tests, writes Steve Braunias.

A fire has ripped through the Torch in Dubai - one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.

Deliberately-lit property fires in Dunedin's student quarter could kill someone, a detective investigating the case warns.

A Kumeu cafe has been gutted by a fire which took hold overnight.

'I just couldn't believe it.' Nineteen-year-old Kyle Thom was out with mates early yesterday when he was told his Dunedin flat was on fire.

Firefighters were this afternoon battling a blaze which engulfed a North Shore house. A Fire Service spokeswoman said "half of Auckland" contacted emergency services about the fire on Upper Harbour Drive, Greenhithe, about midday. Video: Paul Alexander

Firefighters were this afternoon battling a blaze which engulfed a North Shore house. A Fire Service spokeswoman said "half of Auckland" contacted emergency services about the fire on Upper Harbour Drive, Greenhithe, about midday.

Firefighters were this afternoon battling a blaze which engulfed a North Shore house.

A young family are devastated after a major house fire wrecked their suburban home this afternoon.

"It's a little unusual to say the least." A teen's been left "shaken" after he disturbed an armed intruder trying to set fire to a couch in his Fairlie home.

A fire burning in a Timaru building which sparked evacuations this morning appears to have burnt itself out.

The firefighting pilot who escaped a helicopter crash unscathed says he's happy nobody was hurt and doesn't think mechanical failure or pilot error caused the crash.

Large plumes of black smoke from a commercial building fire in central Tauranga could be seen rising above the city's skyline this morning.

Firefighters warn it could take days, even weeks, to totally extinguish a massive Marlborough fire that broke out yesterday.

As large-scale scrub fires continue to burn across tinder-dry farmland, the Fire Service says the country has seen a 50 per cent jump in the number of rural fires this year.

A fire that started in Marlborough overnight continued to rage today. Homes have been threatened from the fire blazing through 150ha of scrub near Onamalutu.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling large scrub blazes as dry weather has created tinderbox conditions across the country, the Fire Service says. Blazes in Canterbury, Marlborough and Manawatu are keeping about 330 firefighters busy.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling large scrub blazes as dry weather has created tinderbox conditions across the country, the Fire Service says.

A 47-year-old helicopter pilot made a lucky escape after his machine crashed while battling a blaze which was raging out of control in Marlborough today.

Minutes after an inferno ripped across a tinder-dry paddock behind her Christchurch home, Julia Walker thought she was going to die.

Some residents are re-entering their homes in the Christchurch suburb of Hei Hei as firefighters continue to dampen down areas razed by a large fire today.

An elaborate New York mansion featured in Taylor Swift's Blank Space music video has been severely damaged by fire.