A HEROIC man has tragically died while saving his family from a catastrophic house fire on Christmas day.
Steven Weatherford was sleeping on his couch when he saw plums of smoke and flame coming out of his dad’s house in Oakland, California.
The man, aged 37, quickly woke up his older father and other family members who were sleeping and assisted them in evacuating the house promptly.
However, he died while trying to save everybody’s lives from the horror blaze.
His aunt Eunice Smith told ABC that he was a “hero who saved her life”.
She added: “He was a good person. He was a good family man. He saved his family.
“He saved four people in that house. He woke them up and he saved them and he went back because he wasn’t sure that everybody was out of the house.
“He was a hero.”
Weatherford was spending Christmas day with his family for their annual holiday celebration.
He had made plans to propose to his girlfriend Lashante Mayo on New Year’s Eve.
Weatherford’s girlfriend tearfully told CBS News that she’d learned after the tragedy that he intended to propose.
The hero son had even bought a ring that he planned to give to Mayo.
Mayo’s mum said: “He didn’t get a chance to give it to her. But it is in the house, and we are going to find it.”
The Oakland Fire Department received an alert about the fire at 6am in the morning.
Rescuers found Weatherford’s body when they rushed inside the house.
A spokesperson said he was “overcome and likely disoriented by the smoke”.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the inferno.
