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.

The father of Kiwi triplets killed in a Doha fire says the most scientific piece of evidence is not being presented in a trial to decide culpability for the fatal fire.

A suspicious blaze that destroyed 200ha of scrub, bush and forestry on the Pouto Peninsula also wiped out vulnerable indigenous flora and fauna.

A truck driver was unaware his moving trailer had been engulfed in flames until he heard a loud explosion and looked in his rear-view mirror.

Eric Bell has a message for anyone having a late night cook-up - don't go to bed with an element still on.

A staff member at the Doha daycare centre where New Zealand triplets died called her husband saying "no one will help" as she tried to evacuate children, a court has heard.

The army has apologised but denies it was reckless after two fires were started on the same day during separate training exercises in hot, dry conditions.

Fire crews are optimistic they have gained the upper hand over a huge blaze that has been burning on Great Barrier Island throughout the week.

New fires are burning on Great Barrier Island as firefighters work to strengthen containment lines with controlled vegetation burnoffs.

The Defence Force is battling a blaze in bushland at the Waiouru Military Camp in the central North Island, which started during a live fire exercise yesterday.

The Army could be charged with arson after a live firing exercise yesterday went wrong and sparked a large scrub fire, if police believe they were reckless.

A huge bush fire that has raged across Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf for more than a day is under control tonight.

The New Zealand Defence Force will investigate how a live ammunition training exercise at an Army base near Christchurch caused a large scrub fire today.

Northland farmer Susan Bradley moved stock and her family were ready to evacuate as a fierce forest fire encroached on her home near Kelly's Bay yesterday.

Firefighters were "planning for the worst" last night as a huge scrub fire burned across Great Barrier Island, forcing the evacuation of homes, businesses and a medical centre.

About 40 rural volunteer firefighters are battling a blaze threatening homes and businesses on Great Barrier Island, off the trip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

About 40 rural volunteer firefighters are battling a blaze threatening homes and businesses on Great Barrier Island, off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Fire crews from across the region have rushed to fight a large blaze in a community centre at Upper Moutere in Nelson.