NZ’s Richest Man in Heroic Rescue

by Sail-World Cruising on 27 Jan 2007 New Zealand’s richest man, Graeme Hart, a former tow-truck driver and panel beater who left school at 16, has been labelled a hero after rescuing three people and a dog from a burning yacht in Auckland on Tuesday, reports several New Zealand news sources.

Graeme Hart, owner of the Rank Group, apparently took his own boat out to rescue the people, whose vessel was engulfed in flames after a faulty gas refrigerator sparked a fire which spread throughout the boat. All the victims were treated for burns, while the dog had a burnt nose.

Northern Region Coastguard duty officer Katherine Andrews told NZPA today Mr Hart had made the coastguard's job easier for them. 'Rather than picking up bodies we were dealing with the fire.'

Fire chief for the island Ron Leonard said: 'I understand he took his own boat and rescued the three people and the dog and took them to another wharf where emergency services picked them up.'

It is understood the three people may have abandoned the boat and been in the water when Mr Hart reached them.

True to form, the reclusive Hart and his company declined to comment.