Fires

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.

Up to 40ha of Department of Conservation land was destroyed in the Hawea bush fire at the weekend.

Dozens of firefighters converged on the Department of Conservation's Craig Burn reserve beside Lake Hawea and Glen Dene Station late yesterday afternoon to battle a big rural burn.

An early morning fire in an isolated Coromandel peninsula community is being treated as suspicious.

A Moeraki home was gutted by fire on Thursday night, despite efforts by three fire brigades with about 20 firefighters to save it.

Two young Queenstown locals put out their neighbours' house fire yesterday morning before the fire service arrived at the scene.

Police say the public should not be concerned after the sixth arson attack on a Caversham, Dunedin, house yesterday morning.