He's been credited with saving lives after a fire gutted a Waipu business with a home attached, but baker Him Kim remains a modest hero.
Mr Kim was first on the scene after Waipu's Magic Chinese Takeaways, on the corner of The Centre and Nova Scotia Dr, caught fire just before 6am yesterday, then waking the residents - the business owner and one of his employees - in the home before it was fully engulfed.
Whangarei fire safety officer Craig Bain was yesterday investigating the cause of the fire, which he believed started somewhere near the deep fryers at the rear of the shop.
Mr Kim, who owns the Waipu Bakery with his wife Chou Siv, said a customer alerted him to smoke coming out of the takeaway - about 20m away - at around 5.40am.
Knowing the takeaway bar's owner, Colin Xu, and one of his employees were asleep in the bedrooms of the house joined to the business, Mr Kim jumped into action, banging on the doors and windows to wake them, while his wife called 111.