He was worried because "you know there could have been kids inside, we were concerned people may have been asleep".
"It was pretty freaky. We were shouting, 'is anyone here, is anyone here, get out, get out'."
The house was engulfed in smoke but there were no flames in sight or people inside, he said.
"We checked room by room but no-one was in there. But there were flames coming from the bathroom. Sparks were flying out from underneath the bathroom fan, the big light had fallen out and you could see up into the ceiling where the fire was.
"I still feel a bit sick because of all the smoke I breathed in."
Garth Stanley said he called the fire brigade and three fire trucks arrived at the address about 20 minutes later.
The 27-year-old said by that time you could see flames shooting off the tiled roof and the lines on the power pole opposite were sparking. "The firemen told us the house would have burnt to the ground if we hadn't acted so quickly. They thanked us."
Mr Birch told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend he was visiting from Rotorua and was having a cigarette on the deck when he noticed heavy smoke wafting through the air.
"I could smell it too."
He shouted to his mates inside and ran off down the road.
Mr Wild did grab a garden hose and tried to squirt it at the fire before the brigade arrived.
Cruise Moore said there was not a lot of visual damage today to the brick and tile property but it had "been a pretty exciting night", and all the men were pleased no-one was hurt. Anyone would do the same, Mr Garth said.
"We saw the house on fire and decided to be good citizens. It would have been on our hands if we didn't."
Fire Service Northern Communications shift manager Steve Smith said it was a fire in a roof void.
Specialist fire investigator Stuart Bootten was at the scene at 9am yesterday and said three fire trucks from Papamoa arrived at 12.23am on Friday morning but the third was turned away. There were no occupants in the house.
He was conducting an origin and cause investigation and had travelled through from Rotorua.
Tauranga and Bay of Plenty Coast Fire Risk management officer Bill Rackham said he did not recommend people go into homes on fire. "The message we portray constantly is to get out and stay out and call 111. If you look at the statistics a lot of people die going back into fires in regards to trying to help people or do their own assessments to see whether or not people are in a house.
"We just don't recommend that."
Meanwhile, an 18-year-old woman died in a house fire on Webb Rd in Papamoa slightly earlier on Thursday night.
Police said an explosion was heard about 11.15pm alerting neighbours.
The Fire Service and police were called to the property where a sleep-out building was well ablaze.
Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair of Tauranga Police said initial investigations had been completed and police would be working with the family of the deceased to provide the appropriate support.
Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death. A post mortem will be completed, and the matter has been referred to the coroner.
