When Darcy Walker heard an explosion and saw the kitchen of his family home engulfed in flames he instinctively knew his handicapped cousin would be trapped.
The Rotorua 21-year-old ran to a bedroom window and saw his cousin, who has cerebral palsy, standing at the window screaming and
crying - as flames licked towards her.
Kelly Tuanau's disability means she cannot walk quickly, so Darcy jumped up, unhitched the window latch, pushed back a heavy bunk, grabbed her and pulled her out.
"I saw the flames and thought of her straight away," Darcy said.
"I knew she wouldn't be able to get out by herself."
Sunday's fire started in the kitchen when an uncle of the woman who rents the house tripped and fell while carrying a bowl of isopropyl alcohol. The chemical landed on the stove and exploded.
The uncle ran out of the kitchen - his only injury was badly singed hair.
Darcy told the Daily Post after the blaze that he didn't know how he found the strength to push back the bunk and lift Kelly, 20, out the window.
Although she was saved, their simple home in Fordlands and their family car were destroyed.
Darcy's mum Kelly Walker, a solo mother, lives at the house with her five children - Darcy and four others aged 19, 16, 11 and 4. The fire, which ripped through her home just after 2pm, has left her with nothing.
"What Darcy did is the only good thing that has come out of this," she said.
"At least no one is hurt."
None of the contents of her home or her car were insured and she doesn't know where the family is going to live long term.
The fire didn't reach an old, but small, caravan in the backyard - which Ms Walker said might be an option until the family got back on their feet.
- NZPA
