More than 1,000 firefighters and 100 helicopters are battling the huge fire that forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray in western Canada. But officials say they need rain to make real progress.

A barn on a property in Carterton has been engulfed in flames.

It's believed fireworks caused a large fire on Canterbury's Port Hills last night.

A blaze which severely damaged a Hamilton bakery was caused by a deep fryer being left on.

Fire fighters took 30 minutes to battle a fire which appears to have started in the Flagstaff Bakehouse kitchen and spread to the neighbouring roast shop.

A man who was seriously injured after he poured petrol on a brazier and set it alight is being treated at the National Burn Centre.

The Porirua house where Pita Tekira shot police dog Gazza was badly damaged in a fire last night.

The death of a 79-year old Whanganui woman in a house fire could have been prevented with a working smoke alarm.

Firefighters in Dunedin are tackling a fire in a unit, which is threatening properties next door.

Firefighters are battling a large blaze on State Highway 1 south of Taupo this morning which has claimed three buildings on one property.

Fire investigators have launched an investigation into a suspicious fire in South Auckland tonight.

An elderly woman pulled unconscious from a burning house last night has died.

A fishing vessel is on fire at the Port of Lyttelton.

Residents in parts of Dunedin are being told to stay indoors due to smoke from a fire at a rubbish tip.

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 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.

The Fire Service is attending a large house fire in West Auckland.

Nobody was injured in a fire that "severely damaged" a Horowhenua house last night, but it's unclear if anyone was inside when flames took hold.

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.