The mother of two children killed in a house fire in Christchurch says she blames herself for not being home at the time.
Nicole Mulligan told Stuff she was at the supermarket when the fire engulfed her Burwood home on Tuesday night.
She remembered seeing smoke as she returned home and hoped it wasn't hers.
“I started freaking out. I was like ‘oh no, it’s mine, isn’t it?'"
Her worst nightmare was shortly confirmed.
Nine-month-old Arianna died in the fire, which was understood to have started in her room, and eight-year-old Brayden died in an ambulance after being pulled out of the home by firefighters.
"I was shopping and I should’ve been there ... I feel like I could’ve saved them," Ms Mulligan said.
“I lost two babies in one night and I blame myself because I wasn’t there.”
A man and four kids were sleeping when the blaze engulfed their Burwood property, leaving an eight-year-old boy and a nine-month-old baby dead.
Ms Mulligan's partner, who is Arianna's dad, heard the smoke alarm go off but it was too late. By the time he reached her room he could see red under the door and was knocked back by a a gust of fire when he tried to enter.
“He went to open the bedroom door and this big ball of fire just whacked him into the wall. He said he didn’t even hear her cry, she was already gone. [The fire] came from behind the door, exactly where the heater was," Ms Mulligan recounted.
She believes the blaze started from a fan heater in the baby's room.
Mr Cooke managed to get six-year-old Lucas and two-year-old Brianna out of the house, but he was overcome with smoke and lack of visibility when he tried to go back for Brayden.
Brayden was found by firefighters in the hallway outside Arianna's room.
“I just thought he was hurt, and then she said ‘I’m sorry, but he’s dead’," Ms Mulligan remembers ambulance staff telling her.
"I just screamed. Then she said ‘your daughter is still in the house, she didn’t make it’.
“I will always remember those words ... it still feels like a nightmare.”
An 8-year-old boy was rescued by firefighters but later died, assistant Area Commander Mike Bowden said.
Ms Mulligan described her boy as "kind, sweet and funny". He attended Bishopdale Primary School.
Arianna "had a smile that lit up my whole heart", she said of her youngest daughter.
A Givealittle page set up for the family has raised almost $132,000 as of 6am today.
The blaze has left the Burwood community in shock.
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