Did you know the fire victims? The Herald would like to pay tribute to the family.
Email Herald reporter Elizabeth Binning
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A grieving father will treasure memories of Christmas with his family after a fire that killed four children, including his daughter and grandson.
The children - aged from 1 to 15 - died after being trapped by flames that engulfed their Mangere home early yesterday morning.
The fire left their parents and 19-year-old brother with serious burns.
Counties Manukau Fire Chief Larry Cocker said the fire started about 12.45am after hot chip oil caught fire. The flames moved quickly to the ceiling, then spread throughout the house.
Mr Cocker said there were no working smoke alarms that would have given the family early warning of the fire.
Relatives were yesterday grieving for the children, and maintaining a bedside vigil for the injured at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.
Eight people were living in the house and another two in a sleepout at the back.
It is understood Misi Sau, 50, and his 39-year-old wife Fetu tried desperately to rescue the trapped children from the Nicola Pl house, but the flames were too intense.
Mrs Sau's 15-year-old daughter Brenda and her 1-year-old grandson Tyreece both died inside the property, as did Mr Sau's two daughters - Taua, 11, and Mia, 7.
Two of the girls were found in the living room and the third in the hallway near the front door. Baby Tyreece was found near his cot.
A group of teenagers who noticed the smoke while driving down the road were among the first on the scene.
One of them, 14-year-old Gardenia Latham, described how they used a bat to try smashing their way inside.
"A lady came out nude and ... she was just going really crazy, saying 'my baby Tyreece, my baby Tyreece'. Our friends were going to go inside to get it, but the fire was just unbelievable."
Gardenia's friend Dallas Pakeho, 15, helped a teenage girl who was bleeding from the arm, and another friend tended to the badly burnt 19-year-old who was "pulling his skin off".
A man who lives on nearby Friesian Drive told the Herald he woke to the sound of screaming and ran to find Mr Sau partially through a window.
He was badly injured with burns to his back and bad cuts to his head, arm and ankle.
The man - who did not want to be identified - said the fire was too intense for him to help rescue the children. "The mother said the kids were in there, so I tried to do something but the fire was too strong."
Mr Sau was yesterday in a critical condition at Middlemore, with burns to 85 per cent of his body. Mrs Sau is in the burns unit in a serious condition.
Speaking from the hospital, Mrs Sau's brother George Iuta said his sister was in "total shock" over the loss of "her baby Brenda".
"She said 'I can't believe it, I just can't think'."
Mrs Sau had also told him she could hear Brenda screaming that she could not get out.
Mr Iuta said Tyreece's 18-year-old mother, Fa'afetai, was also distraught.
"She's just beside herself. We know she's trying to be strong, but she's not coping."
Brenda's father Ma'a Simati - Mrs Sau's ex-husband - told the Herald he last saw his daughter and grandson, Tyreece, at Christmas.
"I played around with my grandson. He laughed with my daughter Brenda and was joking. He laughed and we had a good feed and talk. It's very sad."
Brenda's uncle Meki Tapu said he was called early yesterday morning after his brother, Mr Simati, received news from police.
"I thought he wanted to borrow my car to do some shopping," said Mr Tapu, in tears as he described how his brother started crying while telling him about the deaths.
"I was pretty shocked, especially because all the kids were with him at Christmas.
"It's just the last thing we hoped to happen in our family.
I think the fire brigade was pretty fast to put out the fire, but it was too late to save the kids."
He described Brenda as "pretty smart at school" and "a very lovely girl".
Another uncle described the Otahuhu College student as an athlete who enjoyed swimming.
Fia Sau, the auntie of Brenda's stepsisters Taua and Mia, said she had just returned with the girls from Samoa, where they had been for an unveiling.
The girls were staying in Mangere until the end of the school holidays, before returning to their mother in Christchurch.
Fia Sau yesterday rode in the hearse that carried the girls' bodies from the scene.
Another relative was in the second hearse with Brenda and Tyreece.
Yesterday afternoon family friend Isobel Langton and her 4-year-old nephew Alex Nand dropped flowers at the property.
Another woman who had studied with her said Mrs Sau had sometimes brought her grandson Tyreece to school. "I feel for her little [grandson]. He was so cute."
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Vaimoana Tapaleao
