Aaron Howard, 32, had been visiting his friend Gwen Pertzel at her Glenroy home when the fire broke out about 3am.

He held back the flames with a wet towel to help Ms Pertzel, her mother and 12-year-old daughter escape.

“All I know is if he hadn’t been there I don’t think we’d be here,” Ms Pertzel said.

“My mum is 77, I don’t think I could have got her out without him.

“He’s a hero to us.”

Corinne Howard, from Wahgunyah, said she was content knowing her younger brother died trying to save others.

“I’m happy knowing that he died fighting the fire,” she said.

“There was a child in there, he was trying to help them, so in my eyes he’s come out a hero.

“He just left that last run out too late.”

Mr Howard's family grieving after the Ryan Road house fire: Georgia Pertzel, 12, Stevie-Lee Pertzel, 17, Joyce Mavis-Holden, 77 and Gwen Pertzel, 48. PICTURE: Ben Eyles.

Fire investigators said last night that the cause of the blaze in Ryan Road is never likely to be known due to its severity.

Mr Howard had been living in Melbourne working as a concreter until about six months ago when he moved back to the Border.

He was due to return to his parent’s Balldale home today.

“He hadn’t been getting much work in Albury so he was going to go back to Melbourne to find some work down there,” Ms Howard said.

“But he was going to come home and spend some time with our mum and dad for the next two weeks.”

Ms Howard had spent Wednesday afternoon with her brother and said she would always have fond memories of their final time together.

“He’d come to my home, we sat and talked for the afternoon and he got to spend some time with my kids and then I drove him back up here because he’d missed the bus,” she said.

“He’s got a dog that he absolutely adores and I picked up the dog for him to take back to mum and dad’s.”

Mr Howard had a six-year-old son, Danny, with his former partner in Melbourne.

Ms Howard said her brother was easy-going and made friends quickly.

Mr Howard attended Balldale Public School and Corowa High School where he excelled at rugby and athletics.

He is survived by his son, his parents Margaret and Andy Howard of Balldale, his sister Corinne and three brothers.