Heroic NZ girl saves her family from house fire

A New Zealand family has been saved from possible tragedy thanks to a quick-thinking seven-year-old girl who woke them up as flames took hold of their house south of Auckland.  

Alyssah Moanaroa-Yates began screaming after she was woken up by the smell of smoke inside the converted shed where she and her family were sleeping on a rural property at Whakamarama.

“I could smell the smoke,” Alyssah told Stuff.co.nz.

“My sister was in bed still sleeping and we didn’t know where she was and mum got her and she started crying.”

Two adults and five children were living in the converted shed, which had extra rooms added on.  

Alyssah’s mother, Serenity, was sleeping in a bed with her partner and newborn daughter in an adjoining room when they were woken up by Alyssah’s screams.

“I was asleep with my newborn, my partner had just come and jumped in the bed, a few seconds later [Alyssah] just yelled. My partner yelled ‘get out of the house’,” she said.

According to fire investigator Jon Rewi, the blaze was started by a faulty fireplace.

“These people are so fortunate… if it was an hour later and that child had gone to sleep, we would have probably had a very grim outcome,” Mr Rewi said.

Serenity said she was grateful her family were okay, thanks to her brave daughter.

“She was very proud, and so were we.”