When the fire broke out Thursday morning at their Aberdeen home, he jumped into action.

ABERDEEN, Wash. (KOMO) - A Washington man is fighting the pain of serious burns after rushing back into a burning house to save his niece.

"Even though I got burnt. I really didn't care though. I'd rather get burnt than her. She's young. She's still got a lot of stuff going for her. She's a good kid," Derrick Byrd said.

When the fire broke out Thursday morning at their Aberdeen home, he jumped into action to help his sister Kayla get his niece Mercedes and nephews Junior and Rory out.

"Kayla wanted to get the kids out so I ran downstairs even though I got burnt. Started catching the kids. I caught Junior and I caught Baby Rory out of Kayla's window,” Byrd said.

But 8-year-old Mercedes was afraid to jump and when her mother fell off the roof Mercedes fell back into the burning room.

"She was screaming my name, so I wasn't just going to let her sit there. I wasn't going to let my niece die,” Byrd said. “And I just ran up the stairs and pushed through the fire. I could feel it burning me. I got her and took my shirt off and put it around her face so she wouldn't breath in any smoke and I just carried her out as fast as I could."

Mercedes and 6-year-old Junior were airlifted to the hospital and so was Byrd.

Some have hailed Byrd as a hero.