Otumoetai college student Eben Macklow is ducking publicity after being hailed a hero for rescuing a girl from a burning building this week.

The 16-year-old was returning home from an after school job at Cherrywood when he saw a house in Freyberg Street on fire.

Eben Macklow helped a girl from a burning building.

He heard someone calling from inside the burning house, says his mum Emily.

'He says he saw mostly smoke and a few flames and heard a child inside,” says Emily. 'I'm not sure what the child was calling, but I think it must have been a nine or ten year old girl. So he just ran in and opened the door and she was already moving toward the door, and he just grabbed her and made sure she got out of there.

'He took her to the neighbours. I think it was the neighbours who called the fire department, because when the fire department trucks arrived he cleared out of the way, so they could do their thing.

She posted the story on her Facebook page and told work colleagues who say he deserves a bravery award – something Eden was not keen on when told about it.

'When I told him about all that he said, ‘Oh I don't want a bravery award mum'. He's kind of unassuming about it.”

Firefighters were called to the burning house at 6.41pm. The fire took hold of the building and got into the roof cavity.

'The fire tied about three trucks up for a couple of hours,” says Tauranga Fire senior station officer Len Sabin.

'When a fire gets into the roof space of a house, it can be a little bit difficult to access and deal with.”

Len says it took a couple of hours to extinguish the fire. It is believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

'It appears to have started at ceiling level, so they're looking at a number of things like lights and electrical fittings. But the exact cause it yet to be determined,” says Len this week.

There was significant damage to one end of the house.