KEY POINTS:
The 5-year-old who died in a Whangarei house fire had been told not to play with matches because they were dangerous.
However, the warning did little to deter Jacob Colcord's fascination with fire, and last Friday morning he pushed his toy-box against the fridge so he could reach a packet of matches bought the day before.
As his parents slept, either Jacob or his 3-year-old brother, Alex, played with the matches, igniting a fire in their bedroom.
Their parents' flatmate Elliot Jackson was walking down the hall when he noticed heat coming from the wall of the boys' room at about 8.30am.
"I put my hand towards the wall and a big blister came out to meet my hand. I tried to open the door but it was jammed solid so I kicked it in."
As Mr Jackson, 41, tried to get into the room he said he was thinking, 'Are the kids all right, there's a fire in the boys' room - I've got to get them out of there.'
"I laid on my belly and snaked into the room ... there were flames and heat and a lot of black smoke. I yelled out, 'The boys' room is on fire,' and the [step] father ran up to me. As he tried to walk in, he got a big breath full of smoke and dropped, saying, 'I can't see, I can't see.'
"I managed to hand him Jacob - he was lying next to his bed inert and on his back. I couldn't see anything else at that stage."
With debris starting to fall on his head, Mr Jackson pushed burning material aside and felt his way along the floor for Alex.
"I grabbed what felt like a foot. I put my hand up and my head under his neck and snaked out backwards with him cradled in my arms."
Outside, Mr Jackson - who had trained as a lifeguard in America - cleared Alex's airways to help the unconscious boy to breathe until paramedics arrived. Nothing could be done for Jacob, who will be buried tomorrow.
Alex remains in Middlemore Hospital in a serious but stable condition after surgery for burns to his hands and feet.
Responding to claims that he is a hero, Mr Jackson said he felt "a little depressed" that he could not save both boys. "I'm sure anyone with a clear head would have done what I did."
The family lost most of their belongings and the remains of the rented home will probably be pulled down.
Mr Jackson said that if there was a message from the tragedy, it was how quickly fire spreads and the need for working smoke alarms.
"We hadn't checked the smoke alarms, we just saw them there and noticed there was one in every room but we just didn't even think to check them. Even if you think there is a battery in there and you have just moved in, take it out and put a new one in."
