Help! save me . . .

Thick smoke hugs me like a heavy woollen blanket.
Visibility is lost completely - I can't see my hand in front of my face as the two-bedroom house continues to fill with dense smoke.
Slumped against the lounge room wall I try to get low to the floor as the smoke alarm bleeps frantically.
A pot on the stove has caught on fire and there are two of us trapped in the Surrey St home in Tauranga.
It's not long before three fire trucks arrive and firefighters with breathing gear quickly come through the front door.
I can hear their voices, muffled by the breathing apparatus, as they direct each other and start their search.
A second team of firefighters move into the lounge.
"Be aggressive. Get in there and find someone," a man yells.
Only 45 seconds later, I hear breathing - like that of Star Wars character Darth Vader.
A masked face wearing a yellow helmet appears out of the smoky haze.
It's a firefighter on his hands and knees.
"Found a patient," he yells to his mate crawling close behind.
He grabs my arm and drags me towards the door.
Together we burst out the front door into the daylight.
Rescued and safe - bar a small cut on my finger. The other victim is found hiding in a bedroom wardrobe and also dragged to safety.
I had long wondered what it was like to step from being outside, where air is breathable and all is well, to being inside a house fire.
As part of the Central North Island Fire Training Camp for volunteer firefighters across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato, I got the chance to find out.
About 35 volunteer firefighters gathered over the weekend to learn new skills and strengthen existing ones.
The volunteers were kept busy attending 15 different scenarios covering everything from an out of control hangi party to discovering a methamphetamine laboratory.
After each scenario firefighters were debriefed and told what they did right and areas that needed improvement.
The verdict on the house fire scenario from an experienced fulltime firefighter is: "Not too bad but there is plenty of room for improvement."
It's stressed to the firefighters that seconds count and time is paramount in a house fire.
"It's the little things you can do that means you are prepared for the job."
I get to thank my rescuer Peter Jones, of Te Puke.
"This is a great learning experience," he tells me.
"We came in and searched right and went round the wall and found you."
Organiser and Greerton volunteer Kerry Gordon said the camp was an excellent way for volunteers to learn new skills and see where they could improve.
"This training camp has spin-offs for the community with better skilled volunteers crews ready for emergencies."
Mr Gordon created all the different scenarios, which saw some crews leaping out of bed about 4.45am to attend an incident.
Tauranga volunteer Jeff Francis said he barely had two hours sleep on Friday night.
"It's been bloody good. We haven't had much sleep but have been learning heaps."
During the day, Mr Francis works at the Warehouse but for the last five years he has been rushing off to car accidents and fires around the Bay.
"I joined because I wanted to put something back into the community."
Volunteers also found themselves dealing with mock motor vehicle accidents and fires, explosions at a power sub-station, terrorist activity at Oropi water treatment station, searching for victims in rubble after an earthquake and being involved in an accident with a fire truck.
There are 1300 volunteers in the Central North Island area working out of 62 stations.
The Western Bay brigades involved in the weekend's training camp were Te Puke, Tauranga and Katikati.
The fire camps are held every two years by the Central North Island Fire Brigade Association.