The courageous teenager who single-handedly saved the life of a young panicked girl and her pet dog from a house fire in Brabham last year says he was on “auto pilot” when he ran inside the smoke-filled house and risked his life.

Jack Monaghan (above) heard the screams of 12-year-old Dakota Drew from inside her Mayfield Drive home that was ablaze and billowing grey smoke, while her family and firefighters waited outside on the verge.

“I didn’t really think, I just acted,” he told stand-in Breakfast co-hosts Lisa Barnes and Mark Gibson on Tuesday.

Jack will today receive the RSPCA WA Animal Welfare Award for his heroics but insists he doesn’t like being “called a hero”.

Tap PLAY below to hear Jack re-live the story