A Barnawartha man has been hailed a hero after dragging a woman and her three children from their burning home.
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Emilee Body's High Street house caught alight on September 18.
She had been lighting a wood heater when her home erupted in flames.
She ran out but quickly ran back in after realising in the confusion her three boys were trapped inside.
"It got out of control very quickly," Ms Body said.
"I ran out and yelled at my boys to run out the front door but the fire was in between us.
"I yelled out to my neighbours for help then my son yelled out 'mum, we're still inside, we can't get out'.
"So I ran back in, literally through the fire, and the smoke was thick and black and you couldn't see anything."
Ms Body said she had thought her son Taylor was outside, but the 11-year-old had also run back in.
"I was screaming and screaming out to them to come to my voice because I couldn't see anything," she said.
"At that point I was barely able to stand up because of the smoke that I'd inhaled.
"I ripped the curtains off the window and kicked the window out, and my neighbour, he'd been through the house looking for us, he pulled the boys and then me out the window.
"He said I was barely breathing by the time I got out."
Ms Body's mother, Heather Draper, thanked the man, Grant, for saving their lives.
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"By the time he helped her out she was barely breathing," she said.
"The support from the neighbours is so appreciated."
Ms Body said Grant and his partner had been "absolutely amazing" and had tried to calm her and her boys after the fire.
The home was destroyed and the family left with just the clothes on their backs.
They have been living in Ms Draper's two-bedroom unit in Wodonga, but Ms Body said she had been buoyed by the support of the Barnawartha community.
Donations have been made at the town's post office and primary school.
"I'm just unbelievably grateful to live in such an amazing community here," Ms Body said.
"Something horrible happened and everyone wants to know how they can help."
Ms Body, a disability support worker, said she had been short of work and her insurance on the home she bought in April last year had lapsed.
The severely damaged weatherboard house will have to be pulled down.
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