An elderly couple house-sitting a recently renovated property for their son were killed early yesterday when it went up in flames at Tolaga Bay, 50km north of Gisborne.

One person is dead and their elderly partner unaccounted for after a Tolaga Bay home they were house-sitting at was engulfed by a fire overnight.

'I wasn't involved,' says a man - jailed for a hostel fire in Australia which killed a tourist - whose house has been hit twice by fire in Wanganui.

A fire that started in a shopping trolley in a Wellington shopping centre is being treated as suspicious.

A Russian billionaire's workers are helping Maori plan a new Northland meeting house after a devastating fire.

A congested motorway north of Christchurch was closed briefly tonight after a smoky grass fire on the roadside.

A Christian early childhood centre in Christchurch escaped damage after a suspicious fire on the property last night.

Farmers and rural householders are being warned about starting fires after a "crazy" seven hours by South Island firefighters tackling small rural blazes today.

Two young women and two children escaped a blaze which destroyed a Napier house in less than half an hour and closed the city's busiest thoroughfare last night.

A plantation fire that blazed through Pines Beach in north Canterbury yesterday is being treated as suspicious.

Police are still unable to determine what caused a house fire that killed three people in November, but say they are committed to finding answers.

An online gift store in suburban Auckland has been badly damaged by a fire overnight.

Firefighters have managed to contain a large plantation fire north of Christchurch which at its peak saw the evacuation of 40 nearby homes.

Firefighters have managed to contain a large plantation fire north of Christchurch which at its peak saw the evacuation of 40 nearby homes.

A fire that spread through tinder-dry long grass near Tarras in Central Otago was on a farm belonging to the area's deputy rural fire chief.

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.

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 remained at the scene of fierce bush fire in West Auckland overnight to ensure there were no further outbreaks.

21 fire engines, 70 firefighters and three helicopters have contained a fierce bush fire in West Auckland but will stay in place overnight.

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.