A Hawkes Bay toddler who was badly burned in a car fire last Saturday remains in a critical condition in Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

Property developer Phil Martin was left with serious burns to his face and body yesterday after flames engulfed him as he poured petrol on to a backyard gorse fire.

A fire has gutted a derelict house in a north Wellington suburb overnight.

62 parties have expressed interest in making submissions to the inquiry into why so many buildings were destroyed by the Canterbury earthquakes.