As temperatures soar above 30C across parts of the country, so has demand for firefighters as tinder-dry conditions create the perfect environment for forest and scrub fires.

Twenty-five people were rescued from a charter vessel which appeared to be on fire near Auckland’s Westhaven Marina this afternoon.

An elderly Southland man who suffered burns to most of his body in a house fire on Friday night has died in hospital, police have said today.

Seven homes have been confirmed destroyed and many more are suspected to have been lost as a major bushfire continues to burn fiercely through the Adelaide Hills.

Thousands of Australians fled their homes yesterday as wildfires raged across the nation's south.

An 18-month-old boy who suffered severe burns in an Auckland house fire is now in a stable condition, more than a month after he was rushed to Middlemore Hospital.

Dozens of firefighters battled a fierce bush fire in West Auckland last night that threatened homes and blocked access to residents.

Firefighters attended a dramatic fire in a van in West Auckland this evening.

Fire crews around the South Island were kept busy with three large and a number of small fires overnight.

A fire which destroyed a house and damaged another was started by a Dunedin man trying to inhale cannabis over an lpg heater, the Dunedin District Court has been told.

A 29-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious burns after a domestic incident this morning.

Fire gutted a home and wrecked two cars in the Auckland street John Key once described as a dead-end place.

Fire destroyed a couple's newly renovated home and their rare sports car when it ripped through the two-storey house.

Fire crews are fighting a "well involved" house fire in Stanmore Bay on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of Auckland.

Animals scurried for cover as a blaze ripped through scrub near Rotorua Airport -- one of three big blazes to keep firefighters in the North Island busy this weekend.

A fire broke out at the TVNZ headquarters in central Auckland this morning.

The fire at TVNZ headquarters has now been extinguished, and fans are being used to ventilate the building.

A fire has broken out at TVNZ Headquarters on Victoria St, Auckland.

Firefighters last night battled a blaze at a farm on Great Barrier Island.

A large fire has destroyed a farm house on Great Barrier Island after it was spotted by off-duty Fire Service staff staying at a hotel on the island.

A man has been arrested following a house fire north of Wellington this morning, which is being treated as a domestic incident.

The owners of 200 storage units lost everything when a Wellington facility became the target of an arson, a court was told today.

The trial for the man who is accused of setting a Wellington storage facility on fire, destroying millions of dollars worth of property, has started in the High Court