The Fire Service responded to 60 firework-related calls across the country last night.

Thick smoke and falling ash surrounded Lynn Bennett as she fled the huge flames that came within metres of her Woodside home yesterday.

The fire, along the ridge of the Maungatua Hill Range, forced the evacuation of a number of properties on nearby McKendry Rd this morning.

A controversial plan to ban domestic open fires and old woodburners in Auckland has been kicked to touch until at least next year.

A fire which destroyed a community hall near Tauranga last night has been labelled suspicious by authorities.

Operators of an almost-built cafe in Auckland's Cornwall Park that was gutted by a deliberately lit fire on Sunday are considering temporary replacement options.

Several small bushfires are burning in northwest South Australia after a barrage of lightning strikes overnight.

Police are investigating whether a fire at an Auckland mosque that has been at the centre of allegations of extremist Islamic teaching was deliberately lit.

A fire that gutted a million-dollar cafe in one of the country's most popular parks is being treated as suspicious.

A driver speeding at 150km/h dropped a hitch-hiker off on the side of the road before continuing to flee police until his car caught fire.

A fire at a mosque early this morning is under investigation.

One person has died after a a car and truck collided north of Auckland. It is the first road death of the long weekend.

A prosecution could be in the wind for TradeMe founder Sam Morgan, after a burn-off on his property on Tuesday blanketed Wanaka in smoke.

Thick smoke from a farmer's burn-off blanketed Wanaka for much of yesterday afternoon, angering some residents and perplexing tourists.

Fire crews have stayed overnight at the scene of a suspicious fire on Blenheim's Wither Hills.

Friends of a boy buried beneath a mound of dirt ran to neighbouring homes to ask for help yesterday.

The son of a man killed in a controlled scrub burn-off in North Canterbury has paid tribute to "an extraordinary father figure".

A man killed in a controlled scrub burn-off near Arthur’s Pass in the South Island was believed to have been overcome by smoke inhalation.

The Waiheke Island boat fire that killed a transient alcoholic and badly injured the boat owner has been deemed not suspicious by fire investigators.

A ban on domestic open fireplaces and old wood burners affecting up to 85,000 homes is being drawn up by Auckland Council.

A Waiheke Island resident has set up a donation site so people can help out the owner of a house boat that burnt out this week, killing another man.

A house that survived a previous arson attack was the scene of another suspicious fire last night.