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.

Victim identification and a forensic examination at the site of a fatal Hamilton house fire involving specialist cadaver dogs is continuing after three people were killed on Saturday.

It wasn't meant to be a big party - just a gathering of a few friends of flatmates at the old Collingwood St villa to welcome a new flatmate.

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.

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.

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.

The driver of a speeding car which caught fire at the end of a bizarre police chase had to turn himself in after dense bush and gorse proved too rough, a witness says.