A man who survived an Auckland house fire that killed members of his family is showing signs of recovery in hospital, supporters say.

An 11-year-old girl who escaped the fatal house fire which claimed the lives of her mother, brother and grandmother is inconsolable with grief.

Steve Braunias looks back on a year of thinking dangerously.

A fundraising effort has begun for a man whose wife, son and mother-in-law died in a fire yesterday.

As summer starts to heat up, Kiwis are getting creative in a bid to stay cool.

WATCH: Families are facing a bleak Christmas in cramped motel rooms that are costing taxpayers thousands of dollars each week.

Three generations of the family of a prominent New Zealand refugee advocate have died in fatal house fire in South Auckland earlier today.

Children are feared dead after a blaze in a South Auckland home claims three lives.

A neighbour says she can't get the sound of cries out of her head after a house fire killed three people in South Auckland this morning.

Seven people have been hurt, one seriously, in a crash at Totara Park in Auckland.

The Salvation Army says a gift appeal is further behind its target than at any other point in the appeal's 23 year history.

Ten days to pay or you're going to prison.

Victim's family happy police officer who pushed teen off bike will escape charges.

Three men allegedly broke into a South Auckland petrol station and fled with cigarettes and cash in a stolen car early this morning.

The family of the woman who was stabbed 15 times are "overwhelmed and humbled" with the outpouring of public support.

There's only a handful of suburbs left in all of Auckland where first home buyers can get a helping hand from the government.

A call has been issued for tighter security on Auckland's trains ahead of tonight's Christmas in the Park.

A car has hit a power pole and broken it in two in South Auckland this morning.

Charter school NCEA pass rates are out of line with state schools, new analysis shows.

Valerie Adams awarded medals to hundreds of kids who swam, cycled and ran the South Auckland Weet-Bix Kids' TRYathlon today.

Judith Collins has laid out her policy agenda if she is elected Prime Minister.

Fisherman Fred Marsters who died in the Kaipara tragedy has been remembered for his passion, enthusiasm and love for life.

Auckland drivers favour sticking with a transport levy to fill an annual $400 million transport funding gap.

Emergency services have managed to free a person trapped in a vehicle after a car crash in South Auckland.

Two men have denied murdering Clayton Ratima, who died three days after being admitted to Middlemore Hospital.

Tanya Quedley, 48, was sexually abused by her own father from age 9 or 10 until she ran away at 14.

Ena Lai Dung died in a pool of her own urine and faeces, starved, dehydrated, neglected and in extreme pain. Today Cindy Taylor was sentenced for Ena's death.

The proposed Unitary Plan, has come under scrutiny at the opening of a High Court hearing where several appellants argue errors of law were made in its development.

A seven-year-old boy whose head got stuck in an electric gate near Auckland's Botanic Gardens yesterday is in a stable condition in intensive care.

Onlookers desperately tried to free a 7-year-old boy whose head became stuck in an electric gate near Auckland Botanic Gardens this afternoon.