A student at a top private school has been charged with arson after a fire that damaged two classrooms.

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

The house fire in which renowned medical professor Sir Don Beaven has died was not suspicious, say police.

The man killed in a fire on his South Auckland farm was the husband of district court judge Jane Lovell-Smith.