A North Korean official has been executed with a flame-thrower, South Korean media has reported.

Residents in a block of four North Shore flats rushed to wake each other up after a fire ripped through their building last night.

Fire services were called to a fire at a geothermal power plant in the Bay of Islands last night.

Fire investigators will inspect the damage at a Wellington storage facility this morning after a huge blaze ripped through the building yesterday.

Smoke from a fire which has been burning for more than 12 hours at a Wellington storage unit is not a major health threat, medical authorities say.

Wellington Fire Service assistant area commander Paul Smith said they were waiting on heavy machinery to open up the unit.

A coffee shop at the end of Auckland's Devonport Ferry Terminal has gone up in flames this morning, briefly disrupting services.

A young Canterbury family have been inundated with help after their home was destroyed in a fire.

Three people were injured after a car crashed into a power pole this morning, causing a fire.

Two men who pulled the drivers from burning vehicles moments before they were engulfed in flames have been honoured for their bravery.

A potential disaster was narrowly avoided at a Hamilton petrol station last night after an agitated man allegedly set fire to a car and assaulted a man.

A downtown Auckland apartment building has been evacuated after a fire that reportedly broke out inside a restaurant on the ground floor.

A huge fire at Taheke, in South Hokianga, is likely to take days and cost tens of thousands of dollars to put out.

Fire investigators are looking into the causes of fires in Timaru and Christchurch overnight.

Police say two men seen speeding away in a boat from a huge fire at Cecil Peak near Queenstown have denied any involvement.

Authorities are investigating a raft of suspicious fires in the South Island overnight.