Dean Corbett didn't even have time to dress after being confronted with a wall of fire inside his rented Tokoroa home.

Four people, including a young child, escaped without injury after a blazing house fire in South Waikato early today that completely destroyed their home.

A large blaze ripped through an Auckland factory this morning, causing extensive damage to the building’s interior.

More than a dozen fire crews were called out to a fire in a large storage warehouse in Onehunga overnight.

A bystander was bashed in the head with a pillowcase stuffed with a rock or brick after catching a burglar in the act in Paeroa last night.

Carl Bradey lost everything he owns and suffered extensive burns over his body when he ran through flames to save a 3-year-old girl.

Six fire trucks and a cherry picker were called to an Event Cinemas in Auckland earlier today after smoke was seen coming from a sign on the building.

Glass and hot embers blasted out of an enclosed fireplace at a Hokitika home last night after a can was accidentally thrown on the fire and exploded.

An elderly person is in hospital this morning following a house fire in Nelson.

Two of Auckland's most popular eateries are closed until further notice after a fire caused extensive damage to their joint kitchen.

At least one of the high profile Auckland eateries where fire broke out today is "gutted", says celebrity chef Al Brown.

A fire at a Wiri factory last night caused no significant damage, the company says.

Mitchell asked to share his mother's room after their pet cat Larry had made a mess in his room, he didn't know this decision might well have saved his life.

A battery charger has been identified as the cause of the blaze, Southern region fire investigator Mike Cahill, of Invercargill, said.

Three workers are missing after the huge blaze on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that killed four workers and burned for hours.

A suburban house is on fire in this afternoon and emergency services are at the scene.

Fire crews are fighting a blaze at Northland's Whakapara Marae.

Police are investigating a suspicious fire in Dannevirke about 11pm yesterday.

A family who lost all of their worldly possessions in a car fire while relocating to the North Island is appealing for help to "kick-start" their lives again.

Oil leaked from a storage pipe and caught fire along Auckland’s waterfront this morning, attracting a large emergency response.

There will be no prosecution over a burn-off at Wanaka last October, despite many official complaints about smoke from the fire blanketing the town.

A fault in an electronic communications system used by emergency services is putting the lives of frontline workers at immediate risk, a union warns.

Firefighters are battling a large chicken shed fire on the East Cape.

A teenager is in hospital with burns to back after agreeing to be set alight with aerosols and flammable liquids at a party in Sydney's north.