A Thames mother gave birth in the back of a car this morning as she was driven across farmland to avoid a fallen tree and powerlines blocking the road to hospital.

Two children were pulled from a burning car by their mother, who had left them alone in the vehicle while she went to the bank.

A passerby has rescued two children from a car fire that started from a cigarette lighter.

An elderly woman says she is lucky to be alive after two police officers rescued her from her burning Tauranga home.

The identity of a police officer who saved an elderly woman from a burning Tauranga house last night has been revealed.

The life of an elderly woman has been saved tonight by a police officer who crawled through a smoke-filled Tauranga house.

A boiler explosion in a shed near Whangarei has set a large shed on fire.

A fire that broke out at an Otara bitumen plant earlier today is now out, but fire crews are still keeping watch on hot spots.

The number of deaths in avoidable residential house fires is the lowest on record, but that should not result in complacency, the fire service says.

Three people have been taken to hospital with smoke inhalation injuries and possible burns after a large fire at a house.

A landlord who illegally installed a gas cooker resulting in a fire that killed a 19-year-old woman has today been sentenced to six months home detention.

A man was dragged from his burning council flat by his cousin, who happened to see smoke coming from the area as he went out for a takeaway.

Firebugs struck in Auckland last night, damaging a South Auckland school, four cars and a garage.

Fire appliances have rushed to a house fire in Mangere.

The woman assaulted in an incident in Massey this morning is expected to undergo surgery at Auckland Hospital today.

A New Zealand man has been badly burned as he escaped his blazing family home with his 3-year-old son.

Three people suffered smoke inhalation after a fire at the Muddy Waters Tavern in Mercer overnight.

Lives could have been lost in a fire caused by mattresses being placed over under-floor heating vents in a school marae, the fire service says.

A safety warning has been issued to homeowners using Weiss heat transfer units over fears they could catch fire. Some models of the

Hazardous materials appliances attended a fire in a block of flats in Te Kauwhata at 7.21am this morning.

A gas heater is being looked at as the possible cause of a fire in the Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata, which claimed the life of a 70-year-old man.