Fires

A sleeping teenager was rescued by a friend after a fire which forced guests and staff to flee broke out in a major Dunedin hotel last night.

The cause of Thursday's early morning vegetation fire on Mt Iron is still being investigated, but the Department of Conservation believes it was not deliberately lit.

Wanaka residents described a potentially disastrous vegetation fire early yesterday as "absolutely terrifying" and "frighteningly close" after up to 50 firefighters from the district's combined fire brigades saved several homes from the blaze.

Alexandra and Clyde volunteer firefighters were called to two separate fires within 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon, both sparking into life after embers from earlier fires re-ignited.

The Department of Conservation is investigating a rubbish fire lit on an Earnscleugh orchard yesterday, within 1km of Doc land, during a restricted fire season.

The number of nuisance fires in North Dunedin's student quarter is rapidly returning to 2007 levels, when problems with unruly student behaviour were at their height.

A haze covered Balclutha on Saturday afternoon as firefighters battled a blaze on the outskirts of the town.

Fire broke out in a large southeast Auckland chip factory early this morning when a deep fryer caught alight.

A fire exercise in Queenstown's vast and vulnerable "Red Zone" will use top personnel in incident management, deployed when the earthquakes hit Christchurch.

Conditions are dry in the Upper Clutha region, causing concerns for farmers and rural firefighters as they continue to battle accidental vegetation blazes.