The Christmas morning actions of 37-year-old Steven Weatherford saved the lives of his aunt, uncle, and brother when their Oak Knoll house caught fire Christmas morning, but Weatherford himself would perish after saving his family.

37-year-old Steven Weatherford of Antioch was staying at his aunt and uncle’s house near the Oakland Zoo on Christmas Eve, and woke up at 6 am to begin preparing a big family feast on Christmas Day. But Weatherford discovered that a fire had started in the house, and was fortunately able to awaken his elderly aunt and uncle, plus his brother, and shuttle them out of the house to safety. But according to the Bay Area News Group, Weatherford returned to the burning house, and died in the fire.

And according to KTVU, Weatherford returned to the house to retrieve his engagement ring, as he was planning to propose to his girlfriend on New Year’s Eve.

"Steve was truly the best person you could ever meet. He loved his family, his friends, everybody so much. He died trying to get them out of the house," that girlfriend LaShante Mayo told KTVU.

Mayo was unaware that Weatherford had been planning to propose when she got the news of his death. "I didn't know, they told me this morning,” she added. “I had given up on love until I had met him."

The Chronicle reports that the fire was on the 3500 block of Oak Knoll Boulevard. About 20 firefighters responded to the call at around 6:15 am, and they found Weatherford unconscious in the house at 6:30 am, apparently overcome by smoke. The cause of the fire appeared to be accidental.

Weatherford’s family has established a GoFundMe for home and funeral costs. “To make this tragedy even more profound, [Weatherford’s father] has already endured immense heartbreak in the recent past,” that GoFundMe says. “His wife passed away four years ago, and now, he faces the unbearable grief of losing one of his sons in such a sudden and tragic way.”

Related: Oakland Firefighters Contain Huge Four-Alarm Blaze at Lumber Warehouse [SFist]

Image: Steven Weatherford via Facebook