UPDATED 3.01pm: A Gisborne grandmother is being hailed a hero for pulling six young children from her burning home late last night.

The fire broke out in the kitchen area of the Valley Road home in the suburb of Mangapapa at around 11.15pm yesterday.

She ran around the outside of the home to one of the lounge windows and with the help of her brother who lived on the property, she went through the window to get all six youngsters out through the window to safety.

Fire Investigator Derek Goodwin says she kept her cool, as flames engulfed the property.

"The grandmother awoke to the noise of the fire, and was unable to get into the house, so the grandmother went around the front of the house, entered via a lounge window, and passed the children out to her brother."

The children and their grandmother were taken to hospital for assessment, suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation. They were all treated and discharged.

Derek Goodwin says the blaze has gutted most of the Mangapapa home.

He's praising the quick thinking of the 66-year-old.

"Without the actions of her doing the right thing, we would've been looking at a rather black day in Gisborne in terms of tragic consequences."

Three of the children are her grandchildren and the other three are their cousins.

The fire service has an inquiry underway into how the fire started. The house was destroyed in the blaze.