Robert Knight (31) has been a postie for 15 years and was delivering mail on Lewin St, Balclutha, about 10.30am when he rounded the corner and smelt smoke.
The elderly man had left his breakfast cooking while he was in another room, and it had started burning.
"The kitchen window looked like frosted glass. It didn't look like a fire, it just looked frosted," Mr Knight said.
Then he noticed a big puff of smoke and realised the man's kitchen was on fire.
"I could see him sitting in the living room, and he was fine - he was oblivious. I went and knocked on the door and called out to him.
"I told him he had better get out of the house."
Mr Knight said he got the man out of the house, and then tried to go into the kitchen.
"The first time I went into the lounge I could see quite well, but the second time it was filled with smoke."
It took four attempts to get in there because there was so much smoke.
Once he had made it into the kitchen, he saw the pan had caught fire.
"The flames were starting to touch the cupboards."
The smoke had become thick and Mr Knight was having trouble seeing.
He had a potato sack with him, which he used to smother the flames.
"It was pretty black, and the door had shut behind me.
"It was a bit scary," he said.
"The cupboards were a bit singed and the frying pan was pretty stuffed, but there wasn't a great amount of damage."
Mr Knight said the man had been in the living room away from the smoke, and did not need to see a doctor.
The fire was relatively contained, and Mr Knight did not call the Fire Service, but he said "a minute or two later, it would have been really bad".
"I got there at the right time, really."
