A Southland man sustained burns to most of his body, including to his mouth and throat, in a house fire in Nightcaps last night.
Ohai Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer John Hogg said firefighters from Ohai and Nightcaps were called to the house fire in Sinclair Ave about 7.15pm.
A man in the house, aged in his early 70s, sustained burns to nearly 90% of his body and was flown to Dunedin Hospital by helicopter.
The firefighters contained the fire to the lounge of the ''wee'' house, he said.
The injuries sustained included burns to his mouth and throat, ''which gave us a bit of concern with swelling''.
Neighbours, who noticed the smoke and did a ''snap rescue'', saved the man's life, he said.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he went out his back door and saw smoke and could hear his neighbour screaming.
''I went over there, pushed the door open and the glass exploded so I roared out to [another neighbour] and he dragged him out.''
The neighbour did not consider himself a hero.
''To help anybody, that's just human nature. If you hear someone screaming for help, you go and help them.''
He had lived next door to the fire victim for about 10 years.
Southern region fire safety officer Stuart Ide said he expected to arrive at the house about 11pm yesterday to start the investigation into the cause of the fire.
Late last night, a Dunedin Hospital spokeswoman said the man was being assessed in the emergency department.
