Smoke alarms wake up Dad, help him save daughter from Gordonton house fire

The fire broke out on a rural property in Gordonton around 5pm yesterday. Photo / File

Smoke alarms were the saving grace for a Gordonton family when a blaze broke out in their home, prompting the father to charge through the house to save his 1-year-old girl.

The Waikato father has been dubbed a "hero" by a local fire investigator after running into the fire that took hold of the home last night and crawling through the smoke to his daughter's room.

Fire investigator Kevin Holmes told Stuff the man reached his daughter "just in time".

"He basically charged in there, crouching, he managed to get across the lounge to the bedroom.

"He's really a hero, if it wasn't for him doing what he did they might have lost that girl."

Stuff reported the fire broke out in the living area of a converted shed, which sat on a rural property in Gordonton, north of Hamilton.

The blaze started shortly before 5pm.

The man's 13-month-old baby was down in the bedroom napping while her father was working in the shed area attached to the building.

Holmes told Stuff the man ran around to look at the house when he heard the smoke alarms sounding. Upon seeing the lounge well ablaze, he opened the lounge door to a blanket of smoke.

The man took his daughter from her bed and jumped out of the bedroom window to escape the smouldering house.

"We don't encourage people to go into burning buildings, but I guess it's every father's instinct to go in after their child," Holmes said.

"He was extremely lucky he got there when he did."

The cause of the fire was under investigation.