A mother managed to save her three small children from a fire that gutted a south Hamilton home this morning.
Police carrying out a routing bail check saw flames coming from a neighbouring street about 11am and raced to the scene of the fire at the Pine St address. officers believe residents of Odette St, to the rear of the burning house were the first to raise the alarm.
Fire Service investigators are currently at the scene working to establish the cause of the blaze, initial indications are that the fire is not suspicious.
The mother told Police she had been bathing with her one and three-year-old children while a three-month-old baby slept in a cot in a room at the front of the three bedroom home.
She recalled the children getting out of the bath and going to her room to dress when she noticed smoke coming from under one of the children's beds.
Grabbing the three-month-old and moving him to the lounge of the house the woman tried to extinguish the fire with a bucket of water but by then it had become too involved.
She has then evacuated the children from the house as neighbours raced to her assistance.
The mother, who suffered singed hair and a slight burn to her neck, and her children were taken to Waikato Hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation.
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