Christmas Day tragedy as ‘hero son’ dies rescuing his family from house fire days before proposal to girlfriend
A HEROIC man has tragically died while saving his family from a catastrophic house fire on Christmas day.
Steven Weatherford was sleeping on his dad’s couch when he was woken up by smoke and flames.
The 37-year-old man rushed to alert his elderly dad and other members of his family who were still asleep and helped them get out of the house in time.
However, he was killed while trying to save them from the horror blaze in Oakland, California.
Weatherford reportedly rescued his father, aunt, and brother from the home, but entered the house again to search for something.
Firefighters said he then died from smoke inhalation.
Weatherford’s 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.
She said: “Steve was truly the best person you could ever meet. He loved his family, his friends, and everybody so much.
“They told me this morning that he was gonna propose me …I had given up on love until I had met him.”
The hero son had even bought a ring that he planned to give to Mayo.
Weatherford’s distraught family members claim he went back inside the house to get the ring.
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.
While rescuers were able to put out the fire in 30 minutes, they found Weatherford’s body lying inside the house.
Michael Hunt, a spokesperson from the fire team said he was “affected and likely disoriented by the smoke”.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the inferno, but is likely to be accidental.
It comes after a sprawling $4million mansion went up in flames after its owner tried to cook Thanksgiving Turkey in the garage.
Dramatic footage showed the gigantic blaze engulfing the grand manor in Connecticut before it was reduced to ashes.
A thick cloud of black smoke was seen above the house as glaring orange flames ripped through the stunning mansion.
Firefighters rushed to the scene after the fire was reported on the holiday afternoon – but struggled to put off the raging fire.
The aggressive blaze quickly spread throughout the home, damaging its core structure that could have collapsed any minute – creating dangerous conditions for responding firefighters.
Authorities said the residents of the manor were trying to fry a turkey for the big meal Thursday afternoon inside their garage.
The room soon went up in flames and the fire began “rapidly extending into the residence”.
Pictures of the aftermath of the huge fire revealed the charred remains of the mansion that has now been deemed “inhabitable”.
None of the residents or neighbours were injured in the dramatic fire.