A wind-fanned scrub fire has raged through the southern outskirts of Christchurch, while heavy rain is causing a large surge of water in the Waimakariri River north of the city.

Twelve rural firefighters from New Zealand will head across the ditch on Wednesday to help battle bushfires in Tasmania.

Two defendants charged over the Qatar mall childcare facility fire which killed three New Zealand triplets and 16 others have failed to turn up to their first court hearing.

The New Zealand parents of triplets killed in a Doha mall fire in May said the celebration of its reopening is “the equivalent of sweeping a crime under the rug”.

Around 300 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at Kiwi House – the official New Zealand supporters base for the London 2012 Olympics.

All 28 miners trapped underground by a fire in New Zealand gold mine have returned safely to the surface.