Father who died saving son in Bucklands Beach fire hailed a hero

By Sam Sherwood of RNZ

Six weeks after a father and son died in a house fire, the family have spoken for the first time about what happened that night, revealing the heroic actions of a father who died trying to save his youngest son and the devastating impact their deaths have had.

Yea Seul Park was at home in Jakarta when she received a message from her younger sister, who lived in Auckland with her husband Jung Sup Lee, and their two sons, a 13-year-old and 11-year-old Ha-il.

“There was a fire in the house last night,” the message began.

“Only [her eldest son] and I managed to escape outside, Ha-il and Jung Sup couldn’t get out.”

Park screamed and cried as she read it, almost fainting.

She then took the first flight she could to New Zealand, having to fly first to Perth and then to Auckland.

Once she arrived, she went straight to the hospital to visit them. At first, she felt relief seeing her sister and eldest nephew.

“But I was still looking for my brother-in-law and Ha-il just hoping there was a possibility they could’ve survived, that they were mistaken or I got the message wrong.”

‘He’s our hero’

It was about 2.30am on October 2 when emergency services were called to the family’s home on Murvale Drive, Bucklands Beach.

The family lived on the second floor of the home and had a boarder downstairs.

Park says her sister was woken to the house on fire. She tried to save as many people as she could. But she says the fire was already too big and she had to get out of the house.

“Jung Sup threw himself into the flames to save his son when the fire started. That was the last moment my sister saw him.

“He must have known he could die, but he still ran into that huge fire to save his youngest boy. He’s our hero, and honestly the best father anyone could imagine.”

Thick plumes of smoke and orange flames pour out of the Bucklands Beach home on Murvale Drive.

The couple’s 13-year-old son used his fist to break a window and then jumped from the second-floor roof to escape, Park said.

Park said at first the family thought the fire must have been an accident. When she visited the home, her views changed.

“It was really strange because the second floor was like absolutely blown up but the downstairs was like nothing happened”.

Six days after the blaze, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va’aelua held a press conference to announce police had launched a homicide investigation, dubbed Operation Town.

“Our investigations have led us to now confirm that the fire was intentional, and this is now a double homicide.

“Fire investigators have confirmed accelerant has been found at the scene.”

Park said the family was “shocked” when they heard police believed the fire had been deliberately lit.

“We were speechless. We were like, ‘oh my God’.”

A 38-year-old man was arrested by police on October 24, charged with murdering the father and son.

He appeared in the High Court at Auckland on November 12, where he entered not guilty pleas through his lawyer, David Hoskin. He was assisted by a Korean interpreter.

Hoskin asked for the man to be given temporary name suppression until November 17 at 11.59pm, which was granted by Justice Mathew Downs.

Hoskin said the man’s wife and young children would return to Korea before he was publicly named, and the suppression would prevent them suffering hardship.

Justice Downs said the man would be remanded in custody until his February 2027 trial, unless granted bail.

Park said she was “angry” the man had name suppression.

An Auckland man with name suppression is accused of killing Jung Sup Lee, 36, and his son Ha-il Lee, 11, in a Bucklands Beach house fire. Photo / Jason Dorday

‘We can’t even talk about this’

Park says Jung Sup Lee migrated to New Zealand with his family when he was young and met his wife while they were studying at different universities.

She described Lee as a “very calm” man who never got angry or raised his voice at anyone.

Ha-il was a “lovely boy” who loved his sport and would always compliment his aunt.

Six weeks on, Park says the family continues to struggle with what has happened.

“We can’t even talk about this at home, we try to avoid this conversation as much as we can.”

She says her eldest nephew doesn’t talk much these days.

Park is now living with her sister and nephew, doing her best to support them.

“We’ve been through a very fast process and also a very extreme process, and now we just got the new place, and it’s like we just start grieving, and now it’s really hard, coping that they’re not here anymore.

“We’re just trying to, like, process, you know, one thing at a time, like one day at a time … you just get through this day and the next day and then the next day.”

- RNZ