A Papamoa family of five has lost everything after an electrical fire started in their Hartford Avenue home on Thursday afternoon.

The cause was electrical. A computer motherboard blew out and the fire started from the socket in the bedroom, setting fire to the mattress and curtains.

The family; Sosaia Falekaono, Leesha Webster and their three children were all home.

Sosaia, 23, was in the shower having arrived home from work, when the smoke alarm went off. Leesha got the children out.

'My sister went running to the bathroom after she got the kids out and said ‘Babe get out, the house is on fire',” says Leesha's sister Unity Wepiha today.

Naked but for a towel, Sosaia ran and went to try and grab the bed, says Unity.

'He went to grab a pot or something to try and put the flames out, but by the time he ran back in the bed was completely on fire.

'He went to go and grab the bed and as he grabbed the bed and swung it around the door locked on him. The door knob is actually broken. He was actually locked in the bedroom and he was on fire.

'He is lucky, he is definitely lucky.”

Sosaia managed to get the door open and then just dragged the bed out.

'And from dragging it out, he is burned down one side of his body, like his head, his ear, his neck; down one side, his arm, his bum, his leg.

'He just tried to save the house so the kids had somewhere to go back to.”

Neighbours rallied and put out the burning mattress with garden hoses. Fire and Emergency NZ reports it was out by the time fire fighters arrived from Mount Maunganui and Tauranga.

Meanwhile, the family has lost everything. All clothing and appliances.

Leesha and the children are staying with Unity out at Pongakawa, but whether they stay or not depends on Sosaia's dressings and how often they need to be changed.

'They have lost everything,” says Unity. 'They went in this morning with the real estate agent and tried to grab things that were able to be salvaged, but there's not a lot in the house that can be salvaged because of the smoke.”

'I had to go through everything and smell everything but there wasn't much that could be saved. One tiny little linen basket.

'There's a builder guy in there now and he's just having a look at what is affected because the smoke has gone right into the kitchen, the whole house. They are going to start repairs next week.”

The family is not insured and Unity has started a post on Tauranga Buy Sell Swap Facebook Page to try and find clothing for the children and the parents.

Clothing size

Clothing needed is for a four-year-old boy, six-year-old girl, eight-year-old girl, adult sizes are 10-14 and mens clothing XL.