Emergency Services

Fire and Emergency is warning hot windy weather in the Far North may lead to flare ups in the month-old blaze burning near Waiharahara.

A person has died after a serious crash on State Highway 6 near Wānaka Airport.

Hundreds of unvaccinated firefighters can no longer respond to emergency calls, and those gaps will have to be plugged from elsewhere, fire service figures say. Audio

All constabulary staff, authorised officers and recruits must have had their first shot by the end of the weekend and police expect to stand down a small number of staff on Monday.

Today is the deadline for Fire and Emergency staff and some police officers to have had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Incident controller Jason Sarich said they were confident the fire would not spread, with only a few hotspots remaining - although a helicopter is on standby and 15 firefighters are on site if needed.

Bowhill Road in east Christchurch is reopening after being closed when a fire tore through a large two-storey home.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region lifeguards have rescued more than 260 New Zealanders from drowning this season.

Firefighters are facing challenging conditions as they try to avoid a flare-up of a contained scrub fire near Wānaka.

Firefighters have contained a blaze that has burned through 280 hectares of scrub and regenerating bush near Wanaka.

Firefighters arrived at a factory fire in Motueka in the early hours of the morning to discover asbestos in the building.

A Central Otago fire is estimated to be burning through close to 200 hectares of regenerating bush with fire crews expected to remain on site overnight to monitor the fire.

Police circulated a photo of a towel thought to belong to a young man found unresponsive in the water, as they sought to identify him.

Better than expected weather conditions have today helped the dozens of firefighters battling to control the Far North blaze.

The person was found unresponsive in the water early this evening.

The middle-aged man was reported missing at Karioitahi Beach on Auckland's west coast last night.

The Kaimaumau fire is entering its fourth week burning, but residents say the event has brought them closer.

A lifeguard at Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula says people must be extremely careful, after three serious boat incidents there this week.

More than a dozen preventable drownings this holiday period have been described as an "absolute national tragedy" that puts the spotlight on education.

Coastguard New Zealand is calling on boaties to be vigilant around evolving sand bars after two separate boating accidents on the Coromandel Peninsula. Audio