"Nothing was going through my mind -- I could just hear their cries and knew that I had to react quickly. It was just to get in and get them out."
Minutes later, he'd saved two young lives after pulling 18-year-old Jahden Day and 4-year-old Ziah Day from their burning home.
But he was unable to save 3-year-old O'rlandau Day, who died in the fire.
His mother, Cherie Kingi, was seriously injured and was last night being treated in Waikato Hospital.
Mr Paekau said his 35-year-old cousin did not know last night that O'rlandau was dead. "When she wakes up they're going to tell her," he said.
The rest of her family were in shock. Ms Kingi's mother, Helen, was distraught.
"I've lost a grandson and my daughter is very sick," she said. "We just don't know what happened."
Mr Paekau, who lives next door to Ms Kingi in Hamilton, was still in shock last night when he spoke to the Herald about the fire, which broke out yesterday morning.
He was driving his sons home from the skatepark when he saw thick black smoke pouring out of a house in the distance.
"As I got closer I saw my neighbour run across the road, I thought, 'Oh no, it's my house'. Then I saw it was my cousin's."
He pulled on to the berm alongside the fence, climbed on to the roof of his car and jumped over into Ms Kingi's yard.
"I ran along the deck knocking on all the windows but I couldn't hear anyone. Then I got to my nephew's bedroom and I could hear him crying out."
Mr Paekau tried to get the window open to get to Jahden, who has special needs, as other neighbours and passersby joined him to help.
"I said, 'Stand back', and I grabbed a metal pole off the ground and I smashed the window in," he said.
"I grabbed the younger one straight away and pulled him out the window.
"I could hear Jahden crying and crying. He's a bit bigger so I had to get the other guys to help me lift him out.
"I didn't know if baby and his mother were still in the house. I couldn't find them. Then the fire brigade arrived so I left it to them."
Firefighters found Ms Kingi and O'rlandau in the bedroom of her fourth son, Dre Day. O'rlandau was dead and his mum unconscious. Dre was at Ms Kingi's parents' house down the street.
Jahden was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital last night. Ziah suffered smoke inhalation but was later discharged.
- Anna Leask of The New Zealand Herald
