Firefighters are praying for rain to help them fully extinguish the huge fire near Dunedin. The cost to fight the blaze is now over $500,000.

A major fire near Dunedin is continuing its destructive path through a large forestry plantation.

A massive fire northwest of Dunedin has so far razed 400 hectares of forest land and is so big in places firefighters can not get near it.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett yesterday continued to fight for his political life.

A 14-year-old youth will appear in court charged with arson after a huge fire north of Wellington forced over a hundred people to evacuate their homes.

Two people were rescued after leaping into the water from a burning launch off Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty today.

Australians are holding a national day of mourning today for the 173 people who died a year earlier in the country's worst wildfire disaster.