Latest from Emergency Services

Cars crash in 30cm deep offal spill
Blood, fat and discarded pieces of butchered animals were spread 15km on SH2 after a tailgate opened on a truck.

Police officers rammed by drunk getaway driver
Officers searching for a runaway car were stunned to suddenly see "sparks flying and the car heading straight towards them" at an intersection.

Police spread net wide for more women recruits
A police recruitment drive is aiming to almost double the number of female police officers working the beat.

Man arrested in Hastings after shot fired
Police say a gunshot was reported in Hastings about midday today.

Families grieve as two teenagers die on roads
The grieving family of a teenager killed in a high-speed, head-on crash say they will never get over his death.

Five students injured, two serious in school minivan crash
A school minivan has collided with a car leaving five students injured in the Far North town of Te Kao.

'Intensive supervision' for ambulance driver after sex assaults
A former ambulance driver who indecently assaulted vulnerable patients in the back of his ambulance isn't sure why he did it.

Lucky break for baby Gemma
St John paramedic Mechelle Wharton wasn't going to let a broken leg stop her saving a child.

Power restored to most of Timaru
Power is back on in most areas of Timaru after a major blackout when a substation caught fire this morning.

Substation fire causes power cut
A fire at a Timaru power substation has caused a city-wide power outage.

Fire risk lethal as Australia swelters
Vast tracts of South Australia are preparing for another baking day of catastrophic fire risk after yesterday's 40C-plus temperatures.

One dead, seven injured after overloaded car rolls
A 20-year-old woman is dead and seven injured after an overloaded vehicle rolled near Swanson in west Auckland, this afternoon.

Two hurt in fiery display
Panic erupts as a fireworks show in Whakatane goes wrong during a hectic night across the country for fire services.

Judge's husband dies in stables blaze
The man killed in a fire on his South Auckland farm was the husband of district court judge Jane Lovell-Smith.