You walk into your living room and discover the clothes horse with the washing you left in front of the heater to dry is on fire.

As the flames grow larger you look around the room – do you grab the Playstation? Your photo album? Ignoring both you race into the hallway and head for the door, but it's locked. What now?

The window in the children's room is open and you leap through it to safety. But as you stand on the street, watching the fire destroy your home it dawns on you – did everyone get out safely?

People can now experience the frightening reality of being inside a burning house via the Escape My House interactive video released by the New Zealand Fire Service on Wednesday.

The video was shot using 360-degree cameras inside a real house fire and can be viewed on computers and smart phones. But for a fully immersive experience, the service recommends people use virtual reality headsets, such as Google Cardboard.

As users navigate their way through the house icons pop up offering important safety tips, like why you shouldn't grab the Playstation, and different problems people encounter during house fires, such as windows painted shut or doors being locked.

A clock also shows how long users have been inside the house, while gauges at the top of the bottom of the screen show the temperatures of the floor and inside the ceiling.

In roughly 2m 37s, the house is filled with black acrid smoke, the ceiling temperature hits 962 degrees Celsius and the room is described as 'unsurvivable”.

To use the New Zealand Fire Service's new interactive video, visit www.escapemyhouse.co.nz