A 61-YEAR-OLD man who is suspected of setting fire to a house while a family of eight was asleep inside, was later rescued from a fiery death as he was pulled out of the burning building by his would-be victims, during the early morning hours on Monday.

While the Bahadoor family of Mafeking Village escaped death, two members - Amit Bahadoor, 33, and his sister Anisha, 34 - sustained burn injuries.

Amit, who pulled the suspect from the burning house, was treated and discharged while his sister was still in hospital up to Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, who lives in the area, was detained and is being investigated for attempted murder, arson, and breach of a protection order.

'Thank God our lives were spared. We believe it is a miracle we are alive. We forgive him but we will never forget. Our God is a forgiving God,' Amit said.

He added that he got a 'haunting" wake-up call at around 2.40 am of his parents, two sisters, nephews and niece all screaming as fire repidly engulfed the house. He recalled that Anisha assumed someone was trying to break into the house, and when she looked through a bedroom window, she saw the suspect holding what looked like a gun.

Bahadoor said that when the suspect saw Anisha looking through the winder, he threw a flammable liquid and then a lighted object at her, setting her on fire. Anisha's two children, aged four and nine, her 28-year-old sister and her (Anisha's sister) baby, were also in that bedroom.

Amit's parents, Sharon, 52, and Peter Bahadoor, 71, were in another room.

The family managed to get out of the house before it became fully engulfed in flames. Nothing was saved.

'The experience was terrifying and traumatising for everyone. It is a miracle that we are alive. I believe an angel saved us. The baby kept crying from 9 pm on Sunday and all into Monday,' Bahadoor said.

'She was waking us up every hour, so everyone was sleeping light. We might not have heard him (suspect) if it was not for the baby. The baby and her mom...my sister, were visiting for the long weekend.'

He said the suspect tried to ingest some type of substance before making his way to the burning house. As he was fell and rolled into the house, he was pulled away from the flames and overpowered. A report was made to the police.

'I pulled him from the house because I wanted the police to arrest him. It was while pulling him out that some burning debris fell on my hands. I did not want the fire to kill him. He wanted me to leave him alone and let him go into the house. In about ten minutes, the entire house was destroyed,' Bahadoor said.

'My mother has an ongoing protection order against him for harassment. My parents worked very hard to build the house and take care of the family. We work very hard planting garden and selling fruits.'

Residents and relatives later found several bottles of kerosene around the house. Bahadoor said his parents lived in the house for the past 34 years. The house was renovated about four years ago.

Confirming that all of their possessionns were de