'True hero' tried to save friend from fire

David Dahm rushed into the family home to wake his parents and five siblings, but it was too late for family friend Ray King, 51, who died in the blaze.

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An intellectually disabled man is being called a "true hero" after trying to save a family friend yesterday when flames engulfed the sleepout they shared.

David Dahm, 21, was woken by the fire at his family's Miro St home in Upper Hutt.

He rushed into the family home to wake his parents and five siblings, but it was too late for family friend Ray King, 51, who died in the blaze.

Last night, Ray's daughter Michelle King praised David, saying that her father would have been proud.

"Dad shared the sleepout with David so they were really close," Michelle said.

"What David did was amazing. He did everything he could to save my father and the Dahm family. He is a true hero."

David's father, Les Dahm, said smoke alarms had failed to trigger and the house was already on fire when David alerted them.

"If he hadn't have come in, I think it might have been a lot worse," Les Dahm said.

"You watch the ads on TV and it's absolutely like that. It's that fast. It's a 1940s weatherboard home so it's all dry wood."

Les, who celebrated his 48th birthday yesterday, and his wife, Lisa, quickly evacuated their five other children, aged between three and 13.

"Their rooms were already on fire."

However, with the sleepout well alight, it was impossible to reach long-time family friend and Les Dahm's work colleague.

His body was found by firefighters in the two-bedroom sleepout once the blaze was extinguished.

David was hospitalised with burns and smoke inhalation along with his father and 13-year-old brother.

All three were released from hospital yesterday and are staying with relatives.

It is the third tragedy for the Dahms. In 2004, their daughter Marcelina, 14, was killed in a car accident. Only a few months before, her best friend collapsed at the Dahms' home and died. Ray King moved into their home soon after Marcelina's death and had lived there ever since.

Michelle King, 18, said her family was still struggling to come to terms with the death of her father.

"None of us are holding up," she said. "I still can't believe this is real. I can't believe that any of this is really happening.

"My dad was an awesome man. He had the most awesome sense of humour. He was really funny. We all love him so much. I'll miss him."

Fire safety investigators were at the house yesterday trying to piece together what happened.

Detective Sergeant Tony Heathcote said the blaze had caused so much destruction that police were unlikely to determine the cause of the fire, or formally identify King's body for at least two days.

However, it is understood that the fire started in the sleepout shared by Ray and David.

"They are all pretty shaken up and, as you will see from the house, they were pretty fortunate to have got out of there," he said.

"The corner of the house that is pretty extensively damaged is where the kids were sleeping, so they were very lucky to have escaped."

He said police did not believe the fire had been lit deliberately and that the blaze was a tragic accident.

- © Fairfax NZ News