Three houses worth a total of almost $2.5 million in the Auckland suburb of Westmere will have to be rebuilt after an arson attack on one being renovated.

A large scrub fire in the Cashmere Hills above Christchurch could be seen clearly from the city overnight.

Terrified neighbours have spoken of explosions and flames leaping metres in the air as a suspicious fire ripped through three houses in a leafy Auckland suburb last night.

Firefighters have contained a blaze at Carter Holt Harvey's largest pulp and paper mill in Waikato this morning.

Emergency services have been called to a fire at a Rotorua paint shop early this morning where one person has been hospitalised.

A volunteer firefighter pulled a man from a room engulfed in flames as a fierce blaze early this morning razed one home and left only a blackened shell of the next door house.

A man was heard screaming in pain as a storage shed complex north of urban Christchurch erupted in flames this afternoon.

Dozens of firefighters continue to battle a large scrub fire burning north of Auckland since Saturday.

A Taumarunui man has been charged with arson over two fires on a rural Kakahi property last week.

Firefighters are battling steep terrain and limited water supplies to contain a large scrub fire near a pine forest in Dome Valley north of Auckland this afternoon.

A helicopter pilot needed medical treatment for ash in his eyes as firefighters battled a massive forest fire last night.

Firefighters battle a large forest fire north of Auckland. Video supplied by Daniel Fenning

Western Bay firefighters are on high alert with the region's fire risk at a three-year high.

The scrub fire which raged in Happy Valley overnight is being treated as suspicious until the cause is known, fire services say.

Witnesses are being asked to come forward following a series of suspicious rural fires west of Hamilton early this morning.

A large scrub fire in a Wellington suburb which threatened 30 houses and forced the evacuation of up to 70 residents.

A scrub fire north of Auckland has grown six times in size over the course of today.

The residents of a rural house engulfed by a suspicious fire last night are incredibly lucky to have escaped, police say.

Four fire engines and five tankers are at the Chertsey Kyle Road fire which has spread down a 400 metre tree line and destroyed a hay stack.

A woman was lucky to escape with her life from an exploding house in Wanganui East early on Saturday morning.