The gorse, grass and pines on the Port Hills are ideal plants to fuel the wildfires sweeping through the area.

Port Hills fire updates: Amazing images show the extent of the damage from the air, and just how close it came to some properties.

Tristram Clayton brings you the latest updates from the Port Hills fire.

It is hoped the demolition-hit Tory St area of the Wellington city centre will be reopened around early April.

COMMENT: At least getting an AA mechanic to a breakdown is quicker and thankfully you only have to renew your licence every ten years, writes Barry Soper.

James Frost lost his home in the 2011 earthquake and now he's watched his home burn down in the Port Hills blaze.

An Auckland schoolboy was approached by an unknown man in a white van yesterday, in what is suspected to be an attempted abduction.

Liv Fountain is desperately raising funds for life-changing spinal surgery in the US which will not only improve her spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, but could make her dream to walk up steps a reality. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Kiwis are showing their support for those affected by the Port Hills fire and the firefighters working to put it out by making a statement

Chinese tourists are discovering NZ's best-kept accommodation secret: motels.

Skellerup Holdings' first-half profit fell 7.5 per cent due to weaker sales to the mining sector in Australia and higher finance costs for a new factory in Christchurch.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges cut a ribbon this morning to mark the completion of the four-lane 18km Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway, north of Wellington.

As a white shape emerged through the smoke, a stressed Port Hills homeowner saw what he needed to see: his family home of 20 years had survived the fire. So far.

Wellington beggars are becoming more opportunistic, using "standover tactics", and even operating on "rosters". In a meeting this

Forty-one sexual assault and harassment complaints were lodged in the New Zealand Defence Force - including one for sexual violation/rape in 2016.

A busy West Auckland road has reopened after a digger ruptured a gas main this morning - in one of two gas leaks today.

The owner of the Cadbury factory in Dunedin has announced a proposal to end operations in 2018, with 350 people facing redundancies.

Tristram Clayton is joined by Cashmere residents Chris & Emma Mugford about the fear they now face.

Laura McGoldrick is joined by Met Service Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths to discuss the latest weather updates.

A state of emergency has been declared in Christchurch and Selwyn. Overnight eight homes have burned to the ground as a huge wall of fire now covering eighteen hundred and fifty hectares bears down on the city. Laura McGoldrick is joined by Tristram Clayton on the ground.

Chaos and cordons as evacuated locals try to find out how their homes survived the night.

Skyline Enterprises last week opened a $20 million luge development in South Korea's Tongyeong City that sent Korean social media into a frenzy.

As fire spread down the hills above his beloved historic Ohinetahi homestead and gardens, Sir Miles Warren wasn't going anywhere.

Prime Minister Bill English has scrapped his day's schedule to head to Christchurch instead.

COMMENT: The visa applications of the Indian students sheltering in an Auckland church are fraudulent and the law is the law.

People in the Dyers Pass Rd area of the Cashmere Hills have been ordered to leave their properties immediately.

Evacuated residents spend a restless night away from their homes in the path of the Port Hills fire. Some got terrible news this morning.

Lianne Dalziel says rubberneckers aren't helping and people need to 'stay at a distance' from the fires.

Derek Wheeldon, 80, and his wife Carol, 70, know they live in a beautiful place, but criminals are well and truly spoiling it.