Teen hailed hero found dead in bed

A teenager is dead after it was understood he became trapped after going into a burning house to help a friend. Eight others were injured in the early morning Christchurch incident, emergency services say.

The teenager who perished in Saturday morning's ferocious house blaze in Christchurch was found dead in his bed, police say.

Corey James McLean, 16, had been hailed a hero in initial accounts of the tragedy.

Neighbours reported the teen trying to save Sayler Hutchinson-Clarke - a young mother expecting her second child - from the blaze in Medina Cres in the Parklands area.

But police have told Ms Hutchinson-Clarke and the property's Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZ) tenant, Wendy Marsh, that the teen had been found dead in the bed where he was sleeping that night.

Ms Marsh lived at the house with her three teenage children, Rikki, Mikayla and Cheyanne Marsh.

Four others, including Corey and Ms Hutchinson-Clarke, had stayed the night.

Marsh family spokeswoman Piwi Beard, 53, said reports the teenager had died saving Ms Hutchinson-Clarke were "very upsetting" for her.

"Sayler feels that people might blame her for what happened to Corey, and it's just not true," Ms Beard said. "There has been a lot of stuff said that just never happened."

Today, overcrowding concerns at the house emerged.

There were four names on the tenancy agreement, but HNZ said it had recently become aware there "may have been other people living at the property".

"However, we had not had an opportunity to contact the tenant to discuss the situation prior to the fire," a HNZ spokesman said.

"Tenants will often have friends and family stay with them from time to time which is perfectly acceptable. However, anyone who permanently resides in the property is required to be listed on the tenancy agreement."

Ms Marsh, a mother of four who has lived with three of her children at the house for 11 years, denied extra people were living there, Ms Beard said.

"[Ms Marsh] is a beautiful, caring woman whose house is always open to anyone. But it wasn't overcrowded or anything like that. She was there most of the time by herself.

"She feels she has been made to look like she put people in a situation they shouldn't have been in, and it wasn't like that. She has spent more time crying about that, when she needs to be crying about the loss of Corey. There is a guilt for her to carry when she shouldn't have to."

The cause of the fire is still being investigated by police and fire officials.

Work and Income staff met with Ms Marsh yesterday.

The Ministry of Social Development agreeing to provide some emergency assistance to cover her accommodation costs for this week.