Smoke alarms are not most people's idea of a Christmas present, but the Fire Service wants us to think about them anyway.

Ten Kiwis have died in house fires this year where working smoke alarms hadn't been installed.

The 18-month-old toddler injured when his Mount Wellington home went up in flames on Saturday remains in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital.

A woman who died in a house fire in Christchurch last week has been identified by police.

A toddler revived by firefighters after being pulled from his burning home is fighting for his life in Middlemore Hospital.

Heroic neighbours have told how a family formed a human chain to pass children to safety from a second-storey window at a house fire in Auckland yesterday morning.

Fire Service bosses are seeking law changes making it compulsory for rental properties to have smoke alarms installed and maintained.

Emergency services were called to the house in Malone Road Mount Wellington and found it "well ablaze".

The families of three house fire victims are "horrified" that gatherings intended to pay respects to their loved ones have turned violent.

Greg Johnston's life was shattered the moment he received a phone call to say his little sister was unaccounted for in a devastating house fire.

The head of fire investigations in the country says the recent spike in fatal house fires has "no rhyme or reason".

The family of Hamilton fire victim Toni Maree Johnston has described her as an infectious and fun-loving young woman at a press conference this afternoon.

The first of the funerals for three Hamilton house-fire victims will be tomorrow, as some of the grieving families prepare to speak publicly for the first time today.

One person has suffered burns after a family narrowly escaped from a house fire in Christchurch overnight.

Parents of a young woman who died with two others in a house fire say it's a 'bloody nightmare', as police seek cellphone footage of a party held that night.

Crowds gathered and bagpipe music played as a hearses containing the bodies were driven from the burnt remains of the house where three people died.

Power has now been restored to thousands of Auckland homes after an outage earlier this evening left them in the dark as stormy weather batters the city.

Three people have died and four have been treated by ambulance staff following a fire at a Hamilton home overnight. Waikato Detective Senior Sergeant Graham Pitkethley said the cause of the fire at the two storey wooden home on Collingwood St was unexplained and was being treated as suspicious until confirmed otherwise.

A Green Island man was left with burnt hands and a garden shed minus one wall after an explosion during a drug-making operation last month.

At least three people have been killed following a large house fire in Hamilton early today.

The mother of a little boy killed in a house fire is unaware her son is dead and has missed his funeral.

An Asian custom that has caught on for weddings and birthdays could soon be against in the law in Auckland, and that's not impressing some retailers.

About 60 fire service staff battled a fierce blaze at a Northland plastics factory overnight.

Friends of a woman who lost a child and her home in a house fire have set up a fundraising page to help the family.

The mother of a 3-year-old boy killed in a Hamilton house fire yesterday is still fighting for her life.

Four Housing New Zealand families have been forced from their Stokes Valley homes overnight following a suspicious fire.