The lighting of outdoor fires in Christchurch and on Banks Peninsula will be restricted from today.

Firefighters have contained a large bush fire that came dangerously close to destroying the main power feed between the North and South Islands.

Two firefighters were injured, two houses destroyed and residents evacuated by helicopter as a bushfire was fanned by strong winds and raged out of control yesterday.

Fire fighters are battling a large fire in high winds in a remote bay east of Picton and say they have fears for public safety.

Firefighters in Auckland battled a grass fire in the crater of Mt Eden early this morning.

A 50 foot boat sank in the Marlborough Sounds early this morning after a huge fire on board which left two people needing treatment.

Fire north communications shift inspector Scott Osmond said about three hectares of vegetation were off Waipoua Settlement Rd in the Kaipara district were involved in fire.

One person has died in a house fire in Upper Hutt overnight. Police said emergency services were called to the blaze in Trentham, Upper Hutt shortly after 8pm.

When school principal David Grant's house burned to the ground in July, the last thing he thought was that he was "lucky".

A house was destroyed by fire in the small Taranaki town of Okaiawa last night.

A 36-year-old man has died after his makeshift shelter burnt down overnight.

A person has been found dead in a tent near Marton following a fire. Police and fire investigators have entered the site and a police cordon was put in place.

The Department of Conservation is interviewing a man in connection with a fire that burnt more than 100ha of forest and tussock land high in the Mt Aspiring National Park.

A large fire which broke out at a supermarket on Waiheke Island this afternoon has been extinguished.

The family of a 6-year-old girl killed in an Auckland house fire has urged parents to "hold their children close".

A man was taken to hospital with burns to his face and hands when an explosion at a Dannevirke house blew a bedroom apart yesterday.

Fire crews are battling a fire at the Sanitarium factory, with black smoke seen billowing out of the roof.

A teenager who admitted throwing fireworks into a popular Auckland forest, causing thousands of dollars damage, said he was just trying to look "cool" in front of his mates.

A 6-year-old girl who was killed in an Auckland house fire last night was described as a "beautiful little girl" who was always wearing a dress and a smile.

A 6-year-old girl was killed in a fire started by a 3-year-old playing with matches in an Auckland home yesterday.

The death of a 6-year-old girl in a house fire in Auckland today has led to calls for matches to be kept away from children.