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'No mother wants a dead hero': Family farewells SAS soldier who died fighting Christchurch blaze

The family of the 38-year-old pilot who died while fighting the Port Hills fire have spoken of their grief at his funeral service this afternoon.

Steve Askin, a former SAS soldier, was farewelled at the service at Christchurch's Wigram Airforce Base on Monday.

His mother, Leslie Askin, told the hundreds of mourners that no one wants a dead hero.

"No mother wants a dead hero. It doesn't take going overseas and being an SAS warrior to be a hero. It's to do what is right.

"I wanted a family where we would grow heroes. We've got a family of heroes," she told mourners, according to a 1 NEWS report.

Photos: Supplied

Mr Askin's wife Elizabeth, the mother of his two children Isabelle, seven, and Bowie, four, broke down in tears as she told those gathered that she loved her husband so much.

"He was everything to me, he was my rock, he was my future," she said.

"I really can't see what I'm going to do without him."

Pilots who helped fight the fire with Mr Askin attended the service.

Pilots who helped fight the fire with Mr Askin attended the service. Source: Facebook.

Mr Askin's SAS comrades were pallbearers at the service at Christchurch's Wigram Airforce Base on Monday, according to a post on the Givealittle page set up to raise money for his family.

The army will film the funeral and make sure identities remain confidential, the post said.

Two Givealittlepages set up to raise money for Mr Askin's family had raised a combined $390,000 by 6pm on Monday.

Mr Askin did not have life insurance and also had a hefty student loan from helicopter pilot training, according to the post on Givealittle.

Photos: Supplied

The Squirrel helicopter Mr Askin was flying crashed near Sugar Loaf car park last Tuesday.

Mr Askin was a former SAS soldier cited multiple times for his exceptional bravery in Afghanistan, the Defence Force has said.

He received the New Zealand Gallantry Star, New Zealand's second-highest gallantry award, in 2014, his identity not being made public at the time.

The medal citation said that, during a Taliban attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul in 2011, Mr Askin was wounded by grenade and rifle fire, but carried on rescuing hotel guests as a fire broke out.

– With NZN