A Whangarei woman dubbed the "real hero" hopes a senior citizen she rescued from an unattended cooking fire makes a speedy recovery so the pair can meet in less traumatic circumstances.
Diane Foote of Otangarei was walking her dogs, Minty and Summer, through a park after work last Friday when she spotted smoke billowing from a house along Churchill St, bordering the park.
The occupant, an 86-year-old woman who lived alone, was frying chips when the oil caught fire and she was badly burnt after picking it up by the handle.
The woman then put the pot in the sink and turned on the tap in an attempt to put out the fire but suffered more burns after the oil exploded upon contact with water.
Ms Foote said she didn't normally take the route she took on Friday, but is glad she did.
"I knew it wasn't right when I saw thick black smoke.
"I thought I better check what was going on," she recalled yesterday.
She ran onto Churchill St and up the driveway to the house before knocking on the main door.
The woman inside shouted "open the door" twice and when Ms Foote entered the house, she saw the woman sitting in the lounge and pressing her medical alarm.
Ms Foote picked up a phone and rang 111 on the second attempt after there was no ring tone on the first try.
"I saw flames coming out of the rangehood and flicked the switch off. The tap was running in the pot and I also turned the water off."
Ms Foote then grabbed the elderly lady's walking frame and took her to a neighbour's house before fire and ambulance crews arrived.
She shrugged off when asked whether she considered herself a hero for possibly saving the life of the elderly woman.
"It was just the luck of timing ... it's all reaction when you're in a situation like that," Ms Foote said.
"It's terrible to think of what could have happened, considering what happened was bad enough.
"Hope she can go back to her house."
The elderly woman has since been discharged from the Whangarei Hospital and is being cared for at a city rest home. She didn't want to comment yesterday.
The fire on Friday was one of two unattended cooking blazes within 12 hours.
The second was at a rented property in Onerahi early Saturday where a man decided to cook food after returning home drunk but fell asleep.
The Fire Service renewed calls for people not to cook after returning home from parties or the pub.