NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has praised three teenage girls who helped a pregnant woman and her three young children escape a burning unit block in Sydney's west.
The trio went to the young family's aid after noticing a unit ablaze in Blackett on Tuesday afternoon.
Tiana, along with 13-year-old stepsister Britney and their friend Jessica, 15, could be nominated for bravery awards for facing the flames to help the Bishop family.
Two of the girls entered the Popondetta Road unit to help the woman, who was 40 weeks pregnant, and her three children, aged one, three and five.
The teenagers brought two of the children out of the unit and all escaped safely.
The third teenager, meanwhile, called emergency services and notified them of the fire.
Premier Barry O'Farrell says such actions by the girls should be expected from all citizens.
"They deserve a pat on the back," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"It's what we should expect all citizens to do - to step up and be part of the community."
Britney said the three were on their way to a friend's house when they noticed the blaze.
"We thought it was just someone having a fire in their backyard but then we thought it was too big," Britney told Nine Network on Wednesday.
"We all ran up there and Tiana and Jessica ran into the house and grabbed the kids, she said to me `I'm going to go in' and I said `Ok be careful'.
"I had to ring the fire people, apparently I was the only one that rang them, it was really scary."
Tiana and Britney's mother Belinda said the girls deserved to be recognised for their heroics.
"They think they're celebrities," she told Macquarie Radio.
"Good on them, they deserve that feeling."
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