KEY POINTS:
Helen Adams was getting ready for work at her parents' rural Canterbury home on Tuesday morning when she noticed a news item on Teletext about a fatal fire in Mangere.
Her thoughts immediately turned to her daughters, Taua Evile, 11, and Mia Evile, 8, who were staying in the Auckland area with their father,
Misi.
As her fears grew, she called the police in Christchurch, before being transferred through to the Auckland police.
She asked if the fire involved her children.
"They said they didn't know and they would get back to her," her father, Bruce Adams, said.
"We didn't hear anything for a while."
Desperate to get answers, Ms Adams then telephoned a radio station and asked if they knew what the street address of the fatal fire was.
She was told number seven "and we said thank God".
But in fact, it was number six where the children were staying - and Ms Adams' worst fears were soon realised.
"A short while after that a detective came to the door and I said to him 'I know why you are here'," Mr Adams said.
The confirmation of the deaths, along with Brenda Simati, 15, and Tyreece Simati, 1, has devastated the immediate family and those who knew the children.
"Everybody is doing what they can, but there's not a hell of a lot you can do really. It's just a terrible accident."
The girls were due to be reunited with their mother for a second Christmas in Canterbury this month.
After a service in Auckland, the children's bodies are expected to be returned to Canterbury.
Meanwhile, eldest child Brenda Simati's mother Fetu Sau Evile - who received serious burns and cuts while trying to escape the blaze early on Tuesday morning - was released from Middlemore Hospital last night.
Earlier in the day she was reportedly in a stable condition in the burns unit.
A hospital spokeswoman said Brenda's 50-year-old stepfather Misi Sau Evile remained in intensive care in critical condition.
Her 19-year-old brother Liviston - who has a learning disability - remains in the burns unit after undergoing a skin graft.
Yesterday members of the Mangere community continued to show their support for the family, placing cards and flowers at the entrance of the house.
A special prayer ceremony - during which locals could offer their support to the family - was also planned for last night.
