Jarrod Wilson-Blackbourn, 10, is a hero to his mum, after his quick actions put out a kitchen fire that could have destroyed his family's Hastings home.
The Hereworth School Year 6 student wandered into the kitchen about 5.30pm on Sunday and although he had his back to the stove, saw flamesin his peripheral vision.
An unattended pot with hot oil had caught alight on the stove top while his mother, Helen, was out of the room.
"I just saw flames out the corner of my eye. I ran into the hall and said 'mum, fire' and grabbed the fire extinguisher," he said.
A 10-second dousing put out the fire, but it had already travelled up the wall and filled the kitchen and adjoining lounge with smoke.
Mrs Wilson-Blackbourn, who has only 20 per cent vision, was grateful Jarrod acted so quickly.
"I was in the bedroom getting his clothes ready for school," she said. "I was only gone 20 seconds. Jarrod saved the day. About 20 more seconds it would've been in the roof, then we would've had to evacuate. I'm just proud as."
Damage from the fire was limited. The oven would need replacing, and the smoke-stained walls required a paint job.
Jarrod had experienced using a fire extinguisher at a school fire safety demonstration a couple of years ago.
Mrs Wilson-Blackbourn said: "He just learnt from Mahora School what to do when there's a fire and he always reminds me never to leave the kitchen [when cooking]. It's a great thing and I thank Mahora for that."
Hastings Senior Station Officer Kerry Harford said Jarrod had done well to put the fire out and it was "brilliant" they had a fire extinguisher on hand.
The fire service had an on-going campaign to "keep looking while you're cooking", he said.
"Unattended cooking fires are quite a killer in New Zealand."
If getting to the fire extinguisher or the stove was at all dangerous, the fire service should be called.
"If you're in any doubt, call the fire brigade, that's what we do.
"As a precaution, we have thermal-imaging cameras to check it's properly out. The fire might be burning or smouldering behind the wall."
