'I didn't want the man to die', says young hero

Horizon Tamati-Smith, Halen Eru and Marvin Bees have been called heroes, and don't mind at all. Picture / Andrew Labett

Twelve-year-old Horizon Tamati-Smith had no time to be scared as he led an elderly man from a burning house.

"I had to do what I had to do. I was just thinking to myself 'man I hope this house don't fall down'."

The Waipukurau boy and his two friends Marvin Beets and Halen Eru have been praised for saving the life of 90-year-old Tim Tocker when his home caught fire on Sunday afternoon.

Some of their mates have even gone as far as to call them heroes - a title Horizon is happy to take on, saying he thought he was one too.

The boys were walking home from a skateboard park when they noticed the smoke billowing from Mr Tocker's house.

"Halen saw the fire - the smoke coming out of the chimney real fast and smoke coming out of the door," said Marvin, who is also 12. "He said 'the house is on fire' and we all dropped our bikes real fast and ran up to the door."

After calling out to see if anyone was inside, and not getting a response, Horizon ran to a neighbour's house while Halen went to a dairy to call for help.

Marvin stayed by the door listening to see if there was anyone inside.

"I heard someone coughing in the background," he said. "I was freaking out cause I didn't want him to die. I was waiting for Horizon or Halen to come back."

Marvin tried to go inside but was held back by his asthma. When Horizon arrived he did not hesitate to enter the burning house.

"I had no time to be scared," he said.

Holding his T-shirt over his nose he ran through thick black smoke and "big fire" to find Mr Tocker.

"He was holding on to the bench but wouldn't let go. I said 'hurry up, come on, let go'. He didn't listen, he was freaking out. Then I just took his hand off and put his arm around my shoulder and then carried him out."

When Horizon got him outside two women helped Mr Tocker to the ground and he started to cry. Fire engines and an ambulance arrived soon after.

When asked why he didn't wait outside for the Fire Service, Horizon said: "I didn't want the man to die."

Marvin was "proud" of the way they handled the situation while Horizon was also enjoying being a "hero" and receiving praise from the firefighters.

"They said 'thank you very much heroes' and 'you're so brave you should be our new recruits'."

However the rescue hasn't quiet convinced him to join the brigade.

When asked if he wanted to be a fireman he said: "Nup." When asked why he replied: "I dunno, I might think about it when I grow up."

Waipukurau deputy fire officer Owen Spotswood said the Fire Service was proud of what the boys did. However, he had a word of caution to others in a similar situation.

"It would have been a very sad situation if we had two casualties on our hands. It was marvellous what they did and how they did it, especially for 12 year olds, but we just need to be cautious. Never go into a burning building."

Mr Tocker remains in hospital. The fire is believed to have started when he tried to light a fire with a piece of paper that blew out of the fireplace and landed on a stack of papers.