Man dies in Oakland Christmas fire after saving family, searching for engagement ring

OAKLAND, Calif. - A 37-year-old man was killed in a fire in Oakland after rescuing his family from a burning home on Christmas morning when he stayed inside to search for an engagement ring that he wanted to give to his girlfriend on New Year's Eve, authorities and his family said.

Michael Hunt of the Oakland Fire Department said firefighters were dispatched to a house fire in the 3500 block of Oak Knoll Boulevard at around 6:15 a.m.

Hunt said firefighters attacked the blaze and, as they were searching the house, found the man nconscious inside the home. 

Relatives identified the man who died as Steven Weatherford, Jr., who was affectionately nicknamed "gummy bear," due to his loving personality.

"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," Weatherford's girlfriend, LaShante Mayo, said Wednesday through tears outside the burnt home. 

Fire officials said he had likely been overcome by the smoke and died.

Loved ones said Weatherford lived in Antioch but was at his family's home in Oakland to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

"This is a yearly celebration. And when I say yearly, I mean going on for 40, 50 years. It's not one of those things where it's every other year," Weatherford's aunt, Eunice Smith, said.

Authorities said Weatherford rescued his father, aunt, and brother from the home, but didn't exit the home with them. Instead, he turned back to search for something. 

The family said Weatherford went to grab an engagement ring that was in a safe. They said Weatherford had recently bought the ring for his girlfriend and planned to "pop the question" on New Year's Eve.

"He was going to propose, yeah," said a stunned Mayo. "I didn't know, they told me this morning…I had given up on love until I had met him."

Hunt said the cause of the fire appears to be accidental.

Residents in the Oak Knolls-Golf Links neighborhood have created a GoFundMe campaign to help the family get through this tough time.