Fires news headlines

Queensland firefighters have brought a major blaze under control, which had earlier been threatening homes west of the Gold Coast.

The mercury is forecast to reach over 30 degrees for many parts of the state, ahead of changing, cooler conditions.

Forty firefighters battled overnight to extinguish the blaze.

A chemical warehouse fire at Bibra Lakes in Perth's south, has rocked residents living more than 35km away after the blaze triggered a massive explosion.

Fire crews took 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control, before the body of a 70-year-old woman was found in the kitchen.

It's a delicate situation for firefighters as they're unable to extinguish the blaze with water due to the risk of sparking an explosion.

"It's not just like a normal barbecue fire ... they're difficult to put out."

A fundraiser has been launched for an Army veteran who lost everything in a devastating house fire, including his three cats.

A family has been left "at breaking point" after their farm was devastated by a fire for the second time in several years.

Residents in Victoria's Gippsland region who have spent an anxious day sheltering from bushfires now face a new menace.

When Rob Saunders woke up in Victoria's Gippsland region on Sunday morning, he knew something wasn't right.

The fire started around 6am in the popular Teatre nightclub and quickly tore through the venue

Victoria has had its first test of bushfire season in the state's high country.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined, but investigators are treating it as suspicious.

Patients were wheeled out of the building in beds as a lone gunmen in a bulletproof vest opened fire.

Communities across Queensland's south-east and northern New South Wales have faced more wild weather, as powerful storms left homes without power and flights on the tarmac.

A fire at a wedding in Iraq has left at least 100 people dead and 150 others injured, according to the Iraqi state news agency INA citing local authorities.

Residents had been told to prepare to leave Flagstone yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters couldn't save the large family's home after what's thought to be a lightning strike set it on fire.

Police are investigating a bizarre series of events involving a burnt-out car with a body inside, a second vehicle driven off a jetty and the detention of a naked man acting erratically on an allegedly stolen boat.

About 1500 firefighters brought the industrial action, which left stations across the state understaffed this morning.

The blaze erupted in Canterbury in the city's south-west early this morning.

Some of the world's biggest polluters have been deliberately left off the speaking list at a major summit.

More than 50 firefighters have been called to a service station blaze at Fairfield in Sydney's west.

The temperature in Sydney soared to more than 15C above average, while parts of the NSW Far South Coast reached a "catastrophic" fire rating.

Fire and Rescue NSW said crews were deployed when a fire broke out in a villa on Maclaurin Avenue at about 3.15pm yesterday.

A defect in the product leaves people at risk of serious injury or death from fire or electrocution.

Residents in two Queensland towns have been allowed to return home after separate fires sparked evacuation warnings.

Two married NSW firefighters were forced to deliver their own baby in a McDonald's carpark after their daughter came too quickly for them to make it to hospital.

Twelve firetrucks and 30 firefighters are at the blaze on Hilltop Avenue in Marrickville.

Wind gusts hit almost 130km/h as streets flooded and debris flew through the air.

Massive trees have been uprooted and trampolines sent flying as the lower North Island of New Zealand was blasted with winds of around 246 km/h.

Hazard reduction burns delayed last week have lowered air quality in parts of the week, and it's expected to continue for several days.

A luxury electric car burst into flames before spreading to four other vehicles in a parking lot on in Mascot, Sydney

Lulu appeared lifeless, but then quick-thinking firefighters go to work.

A distraught Adelaide family has been working to determine if anything they own can be salvaged from a fire which ripped through their home on the weekend. 

A Sydney suburb has been left without a fire station for almost a year, raising concerns some residents may be waiting longer than usual for help to arrive.

Just days into spring, parts of Queensland are already at a catastrophic risk from bushfires.

Eight people were in harm's way with neighbours raising the alarm and frantically yelling for those inside to get out.

The first Redbank Plains store caught fire at 1.20pm and the second store was on fore about 50 minutes later.

Some people threw babies out of third-story windows to others waiting below in the desperate scramble to evacuate, witnesses said.

The truck, which was hauling a shipping container on the trailer, began spilling fuel during morning peak hour.

Jack Hardidge faced Maitland Local Court and was refused bail.

The man, aged in his 60s, is believed to be one of the residents of the third-floor Darlington apartment.

Crews in Hawaii have all but finished searching for victims of the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, and it is unclear how many people perished.

The blaze destroyed five classrooms and a canteen, leaving students 'devastated'.

Heartbroken families at a Melbourne special needs school are at their wits' end.

A crime scene has been established as police investigate the cause of the fire.

The explosions happened at a fueling station that provides liquefied petroleum gas, a fuel used in household appliances and as a gasoline and diesel alternative in some vehicles.