Thick smoke from a farmer's burn-off blanketed Wanaka for much of yesterday afternoon, angering some residents and perplexing tourists.

Police are investigating a huffing incident in South Auckland after two people were hurt when a gas bottle exploded this evening.

Fire crews have stayed overnight at the scene of a suspicious fire on Blenheim's Wither Hills.

Friends of a boy buried beneath a mound of dirt ran to neighbouring homes to ask for help yesterday.

The son of a man killed in a controlled scrub burn-off in North Canterbury has paid tribute to "an extraordinary father figure".

A man killed in a controlled scrub burn-off near Arthur’s Pass in the South Island was believed to have been overcome by smoke inhalation.

A ban on domestic open fireplaces and old wood burners affecting up to 85,000 homes is being drawn up by Auckland Council.

The Waiheke Island boat fire that killed a transient alcoholic and badly injured the boat owner has been deemed not suspicious by fire investigators.

A Waiheke Island resident has set up a donation site so people can help out the owner of a house boat that burnt out this week, killing another man.

A house that survived a previous arson attack was the scene of another suspicious fire last night.

The man who died in a Waiheke Island boat fire this week had fallen on hard times, tumbling from a career in architecture into a life of alcohol and transience.

A distressed man with burns on his face, arms and hands tried desperately to get help for his friend who died in a boat fire at Waiheke Island last night.

One person has died and another suffered burns after a launch moored at Waiheke Island caught fire last night.

A team of firefighters is keeping watch over an Auckland school which was badly damaged in a fire last night.

At least 60 firefighers were brought in to tackle the blaze in the technology block of Northcote College its height last night. The fire was spotted by a security guard shortly before 8pm.

A building has caught fire at Northcote College, on Auckland’s North Shore.

A fire has broken out at a freezing works operation in Mataura.

An LPG tanker that caught fire early today is blocking a Waikato road, police say.

The teenager who perished in Saturday morning's ferocious house blaze in Christchurch was found dead in his bed, police say.