A US student was shot with a Taser gun by police after saving friends from a house fire.

Kent State resident Mike Bartlett noticed his sister's room was on fire after returning from a night out in the early hours of Sunday morning.

After checking his sister wasn't in the room, Bartlett claimed he alerted his friends - who were in the basement - and then returned to retrieve his cousin's girlfriend from the flaming building.

Mike said: "As I was running downstairs, I could hear the window glass popping because of the heat."

After approaching officers for help, Mike says he was Tasered without warning. Kent City Police say he used psychological and physical resistance to avoid arrest after officers noticed him behaving combatively and in an intoxicated manner.

Mike was treated for first - and second-degree burns. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.