Husband and wife, Misi and Fetu Sau, were beaten back by intense heat and flames as they fought desperately to save four children in their burning house on Nicola Place.
They are in a critical condition at Middlemore Hospital, where they were taken with two children who survived the blaze.
The Fire Service said the fire, which gutted the four bedroom house, would have swept through the house with alarming speed.
It took fire fighters at least two hours to put the fire out. The bodies of the four young victims were still in the house. They are yet to be named but are believed to be aged 15, 11, nine and two.
The Fire Service said all four were probably overcome by smoke.
Initial investigations showed the fire started in the kitchen and spread very quickly.
