The family of two children who were severely burned in a car fire in Gisborne last week are maintaining a bedside vigil as the pair continue to fight for their lives in hospital.

A hero first aider has described the moments he thought a three-year-girl had died after she was pulled from a horrific car fire in Gisborne.

Two pre-schoolers who were trapped in a burning car in Gisborne remain hospitalised in a serious condition.

Family and friends of the mother whose toddlers were badly burnt in a car fire after being left alone have defended her actions.

A three-year-old girl, seriously burnt in a car fire in Gisborne, has been transferred to the specialist burns unit at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.

The Fire Service says a car fire in Gisborne that left two young children with life-threatening burns is a reminder of why children should not be left alone in cars.

Two young children have been critically injured by a car fire in Gisborne this afternoon.

The NZ army has been cleared of any misconduct by a court of inquiry after a hot fragment from a grenade sparked a blaze during training at the West Melton Rifle Range.

Thirteen people, including children, have been killed after a fire broke out in a Muslim school in Rangoon because of a suspected electrical fault, police in Burma's main city say.

Six helicopters with monsoon buckets and seven ground firecrews battled a rapidly moving pine forest fire on Pahaoa Rd, east of Martinborough, yesterday that had engulfed 30 hectares by midday and was still burning.

A 50-year-old Warkworth man suffered burns to much of his body after a backyard fire exploded.

A one-year-old boy is in intensive care and due to have surgery for serious burns after falling into a fire.

Drunk university students who set couches alight after being turfed out of parties are blaming police for inflaming tensions.

It appears the 54-year-old man saved from his burning Dunedin flat on Monday night may have been rescued twice, by different people.

Firefighters were this morning fighting a boat on fire at an Auckland marina.

Anger and a desire for vengeance, combined with alcohol, probably led a Mosgiel man to light fires causing $100,000 damage to his former partner's home, a judge says.

A Dunedin woman is being hailed as a hero after running into a burning City Council flat to pull a 54-year-old man to safety.

A "mindless" arson attack on a Scout hall in Wellington could have jeopardised children's Easter camping plans, the local Scout leader says.