Firefighter: Just doing my job, mate

Heat exhaustion and trip to hospital worth it as volunteer and his team save house from going up in smoke.

He battled up to 500C heat and 18m flames to save a house and, for his efforts, was transferred to hospital suffering from heat exhaustion.

But Outram volunteer senior firefighter Peter Watkins was unwilling to take special credit, despite witness accounts of his deeds.

He said it was a "team effort" and that he was "just doing my job, mate".

The house in Morris Rd, near Dunedin in rural Otago, was in serious danger of being burned to the ground in Wednesday's Saddle Hill fire before the first crew arrived - Mr Watkins' volunteer crew of five.

"Our task was just to save the house," the 55-year-old said. "The heat up there was phenomenal. We were right in the face of the fire. I could feel it [the heat] through my gloves."

Mr Watkins, an 18-year Fire Service veteran and a technical sales engineer, said that when the crew arrived, the fire was threatening one side of the house and quickly moved around the back.

"We thought we could give it a quick knockout on one side [and] then we went round the other side. It was just so hard to put out ... it was coming from all angles. Because the heat index [was] so high and it [was] so hot, things just started to burn. Things just burst into flames.

"The pump operator had to hide behind the truck because it was burning him from 40 yards away."

Mr Watkins said the intense heat caused garage windows to break and spot fires to spark up.. Smoke was so thick he was unable to see more than 10m in front of him.

After about 45 minutes, Mr Watkins' air cylinder ran out, his blood pressure had dropped and he was exhausted. He and his partner had to pull out. He dropped to the ground "absolutely knackered".

St John then took him to Dunedin Hospital. He was discharged about two hours later. The house was saved.

Outram chief fire officer John Eaton was chuffed with his team. "To be so close to losing something ... it was bloody awesome really."