A man who rescued two of his children from a house fire last night was lucky to escape with only burns to his hand, the Fire Service says.

A huge shed at a Northland nursery was destroyed by flames that leapt 40m into the air.

Two firefighters have been injured - one of them seriously - battling a large fire at a poultry farm near New Plymouth.

The deaths of four people in house fires across the country in the past five days could have been prevented, the Fire Service says.