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Off-duty firefighter catches baby dropped from third floor during Tennessee blaze

Posted at 12:27 PM, Aug 17, 2015
and last updated 2015-08-17 12:27:10-04

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — An off-duty firefighter in Chattanooga is being called a hero after he caught a baby dropped from the third floor of his apartment complex during a fire.

“I grabbed some stuff and I was trying to throw it in the back of my truck. I was going back in… and I noticed a woman hanging from a building with a child,” Firefighter Lt. Vernon Lane told CNN.

The 10-month-old baby was hanging from his mother’s arms outside a third story window.

“The baby got released from the top of the building. I dove into the bushes to grab the baby for his fall,” Lane said.

Moments later, Lt. Lane also broke the child’s mother’s fall.  Both of them only suffered minor injuries.  No one else in the apartment complex was hurt.

“When you’re responding to a fire, you try to use your knowledge, your skill set, what you’ve been taught to do. It’s your basic instinct, that’s what every firefighter uses to do their job,” Lane said.

The Chattanooga Fire Department said that because the Thursday fire started near the attic, smoke detectors in the building didn’t go off.

Information in this story was provided by CNN Newsource