A Welcome Bay resident who lit a non-permitted fire on his property which quickly got out of control at the weekend could be prosecuted or have to pay the bill for putting the fire out.

Firefighters have extinguished a large vegetation fire on Great Barrier Island overnight.

Fireworks are believed to have been responsible for a large fire in the crater of Auckland's Mt Eden early this morning.

Skies around the country have been looking noticeably more hazy orange and bronze-coloured in the past few days as smoke from Australia's scorching bushfires reaches us.

A young woman raced into a smoke-filled corridor to warn neighbours about the fire engulfing their downtown Auckland apartment building after the smoke alarm system failed to go off.

Fires raged up and down the country yesterday stretching emergency services to "maximum capacity".

Australia's hopes are now focused on the monsoon finally forming over the north of the continent as more homes were lost to furious fires raging in above-40s temperatures and powerful hot winds yesterday.

Two minutes longer and a fire that destroyed a garage and small flat in Papamoa could also have claimed the lives of four children.

Firefighters have battled two Christchurch house fires overnight - one of them considered suspicious.

A Kawakawa family is living in temporary accommodation after a New Year's Eve fire sparked by a falling power line left their home uninhabitable.

Three Napier brothers ran through a shower of hot, falling ash to wake neighbours and rescue an elderly woman from her burning home.

Coal-fired power stations in Australia emit around 200 million tonnes of CO2a year. This does not include emissions from our coal exports.

Australia's bushfire crisis has resumed with a fury after a brief weekend respite, yesterday claiming at least 33 homes in northern New South Wales with fears for more losses.

A cool change has brought relief to NSW Rural Fire Service officers fighting bushfires across the state, however, about 30 fires remain uncontained.

Tinder-dry conditions in Canterbury mean fire crews are remaining on high alert.

Five fire crews are fighting a blaze in a paddock near Lake Hood in Ashburton.

Canterbury firefighters were preparing for the worst again last night after another frantic day battling scrub fires in the tinder-dry region.

The latest Canterbury scrub fire has been brought under control but fire chiefs remain on "high alert''.