Teen saves brother in fire

A teenager is being hailed as a hero for dragging his stepbrother from a burning house in an isolated Far North settlement.

Hone Tamati, 15, and Louis Hape, 17, fled the Pawarenga house after an explosion, possibly caused by a gas cylinder. But Hone went back inside to retrieve something.

When he did not return, Louis went in to look for him, crouching low to avoid the smoke, and dragged him out.

With the phone inside a blazing house and no cellphone reception, Louis had to drive down the winding metal road to raise the alarm at his aunty's place.

Hone is now in a stable condition in Middlemore Hospital with burns to 50 per cent of his body.

Louis suffered hand injuries.

- NZPA