A massive garden centre fire which dominated the Masterton skyline erupted while lunchtime customers browsed and destroyed $250,000 worth of vehicles and equipment.

A man smoking fish in his shed is thought to have started a fire which spread to a house and a factory in Thames.

Firefighters have managed to subdue the massive fire that englufed a Masterton garden centre earlier this afternoon.

The father of the Kiwi triplets killed in a mall fire in Doha says the prosecution case at a trial to decide culpability for the fatal fire was "fairly limited''.

A total fire ban will come into force across the Far North from noon today as continued dry weather sends the fire risk soaring.

Burning cowpats proved problematic at a large grass fire in Te Hauke, south of Hastings.

Fire chiefs are angry the army will start live firing again today at the scene of last week's big blaze at West Melton in Canterbury.

Fire danger in rural Wairarapa is rising and water restrictions are tightening ahead of the hottest, driest days of the year.

Aucklanders still aren't heeding a complete fire ban in the region with the Fire Service being called to "tonnes" of jobs so far this weekend.

Fire crews on Great Barrier Island will be using thermal imaging gear this morning to probe for hot spots on their containment lines.

A teenager accused of burning down a family home on Christmas Day has spoken for the first time.

Arsonists and "idiots" defied fire bans yesterday as at least five suspicious fires stretched firefighters to the limit.

As most Kiwis embrace the warm, dry weather, firefighters are racing to control fires that have ignited in tinder-dry areas.

A scrub fire is the latest in a series which have prompted Auckland Council to impose a complete fire ban on the region.

While firefighters yesterday continued to battle huge blazes in Victoria, floods swept through Queensland, shutting down roads, railways and airports as former cyclone Oswald inundated coastal regions.