A close friend of a man who died in a fatal house fire in New Plymouth believes the victim went to retrieve his keys so he could rush his injured nephew to hospital.

Nigel Tyler died after a fire in his New Plymouth home on Oranga St just after 11pm last Wednesday.

He had escaped the blaze with his young nephew but re-entered to get the keys to his ute.

Nigel Tyler died and a child was hospitalised with burns after fire tore through this New Plymouth home.

A neighbour who witnessed the fire said she will never forget the screams of the badly burned boy, who called out for his uncle trapped in the blaze.

Tyler’s nephew was taken to hospital for treatment. His condition is not known.

Stephen Dravitzki, a close friend, said he believed Tyler wanted the keys to get his injured nephew to hospital.

“He would do anything for anyone – he was just one of those people,” Dravitzki said.

“Nigel was the kindest person you could meet.”

He said the pair had worked together on the Umuroa, a boat used for oil and gas production, for many years.

Details of what caused the fatal fire at this New Plymouth home have yet to be released.

The pair were working together when Tyler’s wife died in 2016 and he missed the chance to say goodbye to her.

“We were both on the helicopter coming back to base after being held up offshore; she had passed before he could say goodbye,” Dravitzki said.

He said Tyler was a private person but many former friends and colleagues would be attending the funeral.

Police said they could not confirm details of what caused the fire.