Windows exploded as a Dannevirke woman and three young children ran from a blazing home with flames licking at their backs.

A woman cried "everything's gone" before collapsing as her family's home went up in flames yesterday.

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.

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

A team of rural firefighters spent 20 hours battling strong winds, dry, inhospitable terrain and a blaze which took out 10ha of Wairarapa scrub, bush and farmland yesterday.

Wind has blown down power lines in central Auckland, cutting power to 1300 homes in Newmarket.

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.

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.

A large grass fire has forced the closure of State Highway in Canterbury.

Residents of a Christchurch house ravaged by a "turret of flame" in a fire overnight had only been there for a week, a neighbour says.

A man suffered serious burns to most of his body after the boat he was in burst into flames while he was trying to fill the tank with petrol.

A house fire has destroyed a property in Wellington over night.

A man has admitted setting fire to a house he was building with his ex-partner, dousing it in kerosene and watching it burn as he drank wine on the lawn.

A dad and three children escaped uninjured when their car burst into flames in Queenstown.

Efforts to contain a large scrub fire which ripped through more than 300ha at Arthurs Pass this week may take longer than initially anticipated, after rising temperatures saw hotspots flare up yesterday afternoon.

Tauranga police are investigating a suspicious fire which occurred in Tareha Lane in Te Maunga last night.