Two Kiwi sailors had just seconds to grab life jackets and abandon their burning yacht after being woken by their skipper at midnight.

An overnight scene guard has been stationed at a vacant house in Napier that went up in flames last night.

Fire crews are battling a fire at a vacant house in Napier tonight.

A fire that engulfed a Kaitaia church this morning is being treated as suspicious.

A "Roman candle" in the sky led firefighters to a blaze at a Westport joinery factory last night.

A resident has suffered serious smoke inhalation and minor burns after escaping from a fire that gutted their Christchurch home this morning.

A Palmerston North woman is reluctant to label herself a hero despite saving two young children from a burning car in a supermarket carpark.

A central Wellington building was evacuated this afternoon after a first floor kitchen caught fire.

An electrical fire at an Invercargill school is now under control after breaking out early this morning.

Three people and a dog are believed to have escaped a fire that gutted a suburban Auckland house overnight.

The Fire Service wants new regulations on child-safe lighters to be fast-tracked by the Government after another house was badly damaged by a child playing with a lighter.

A woman was dragged from a burning home in Auckland last night by quick thinking firefighters after a fire broke out in the kitchen.

A 65-year-old man who lost his life in a blaze in Paeroa has been named by police.

Neighbours are mourning the loss of a 'very good friend' who died in a blaze in Paeroa this morning.

The blaze that gutted two Queenstown homes was yet another caused by the poor disposal of hot ashes, a fire safety officer says.

Patients of an Auckland doctor’s surgery razed by fire this morning have been reassured their medical records are safe and there is alternative care for them.

A duck-shooting trip turned to tragedy yesterday after a group of mates were flung from their boat as it capsized on the Waikato River.

Police have confirmed that one person has died and three others have been taken to hospital after a boat overturned on the Waikato River.

A big scrub fire broke out in the Scroggs Hill near Mosgiel, Otago, this afternoon.

Police were called to a party in North Dunedin last night after firefighters putting out couch fires reported bottles being thrown.

Police have said they are investigating social media post that suggests arson was the cause of the blaze at Rotorua Girls' High.