Mark told the Guardian: “I remember the stuff we were taught in school by the fire brigade, I knew we had to get out of the house.
“I dragged Adam out and then was really worried about my mother, so I ran back to the house to get her. I told my mother to phone the fire brigade from our neighbours' house.”
Mum Catrin, aged 30, wept this week when she recalled her son's bravery.
The fire started at around 9pm on Easter Saturday, when Catrin was cooking a pork roast. She said: I was cooking a pork joint and noticed that it was smoking, I phoned Tracy, my husband, to tell him that the meat had burnt and I wanted him to pick up a take-away.
“H e told me to cover it and cook it slowly in the oven, but as I opened the door flames tore out of it.
“I was trapped between the door and the flames coming from the fire when I saw Mark grab Adam and drag him out of the house to a neighbours home. I was really worried about the children so I wet down the walls with a tea-towel and ran out of the kitchen.”
Mrs. Thomas said she panicked when she escaped the fire and phoned her sister.
“I don't know what came over me,” she said. “I phoned my sister and she told me to phone the fire brigade, which with hindsight I should have done first.
“Mark had run back over from our neighbours' house and was screaming at me to put the phone down and get out of the house. I am so proud of Mark for what he did.”
Mrs. Thomas added: “I am overwhelmed, he was fantastic. I can't get over how calm he was all the time. He is going to be nine on May 1 so he will be having a very special birthday this year.”
Mark said: “I am not a hero. I am just like any other normal little boy.”
Eleanor Thomas, community fire safety officer, said she was recently at Bets Primary School giving fire safety advice.
She said: “Mark's quick thinking proves that our fire safety message is reaching the children. I am really proud of Mark. He is a real hero.”
Jeff Jones, station commander at Ammanford said he was really impressed with Mark's quick thinking. “Adults tend to think too much – with Mark his reactions were automatic. It shows our fire safety programme is working.”
