Neighbours of a woman rescued from a burning house in Taupō yesterday are overawed by a shy hero who pulled her from the flames and then disappeared.
Photo: ivantsov/123RF
The fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning on the top storey of a home in Armstrong Grove.
Neighbour Gale Twaddle said he helped the owners of the house try to douse the flames with a garden hose while the fire brigade was called.
He said a truck driver who was on his way to work arrived on the scene and tried to get into the house to rescue an elderly occupant.
No keys were available so he forced his way in and carried the woman to safety.
Mr Twaddle said the man then left and no one knew who he was. The owners of the burnt home had been put up elsewhere.
Taupō Fire Service assistant area commander Richard Anastasi said he knows little about the man.
"We're trying to locate that driver to acknowledge his efforts because if he didn't do that we may have been looking at a fatality.
"He was obviously quite heroic," he said.
Mr Anastasi said two people on the top floor got out before the elderly occupant of the bottom floor was helped to safety.
He said the house was badly damaged.
The blaze was not suspicious.
