--- description: A firefighter caught a child who was tossed from a burning building in Georgia, in a harrowing rescue captured on video. title: Video Shows Firefighter Catching Child From Burning Building image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91fa5ae7656551c0/69885c74f887dc1ab8e9188b/firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [georgia](/tag/georgia/) ## georgia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Video Shows Firefighter Catching Child Tossed From Burning Building  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 16, 2018 3:28 PM CUT  Rear view of fireman wearing oxygen tank Rear view of fireman wearing oxygen tankGetty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 16, 2018 3:28 PM CUT A firefighter caught a child who was tossed from a burning building in Georgia, in a harrowing rescue captured on [video](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/must-see-video-firefighter-catches-child-thrown-from-burning-building/684150793 "undefined"). Amid screams of terror and chaos, footage shows Capt. Scott Stroup lifting his arms into the air and positioning himself under a father, who is holding his 5-year-old child in one arm as he struggles to make his way down a ladder. When the father releases the child from the third-floor balcony, Stroup catches the child upside-down and then sprints away from the flames. It was just one of the miraculous saves made during the Jan. 3 fire, which quickly engulfed an apartment building in Decatur, Ga., according to local media reports. Firefighters also reportedly caught a 1-month-old child who was tossed from the building. “We were catching babies like a football, literally,” DeKalb County fire Capt. Eric Jackson told the [Atlanta _Journal-Constitution_](http://www.ajc.com/news/local/breaking-fire-rages-dekalb-apartment/urISbEYrCc1uvtCXL5VMxJ/ "undefined"). “There were adults that were on the balcony that were dropping their babies right into our arms. We had a couple firefighters catching babies, so it was just really incredible.” Four adults and eight children sustained minor injuries from the blaze, according to [Channel 2 Action News](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/must-see-video-firefighter-catches-child-thrown-from-burning-building/684150793 "undefined"). The video of the rescue was captured from a camera on another firefighter’s helmet. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5104056/video-firefighter-catch-child-georgia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5104056/video-firefighter-catch-child-georgia/"},"headline":"Video Shows Firefighter Catching Child Tossed From Burning Building","datePublished":"2018-01-16T15:28:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:27:54.961Z","description":"“We were catching babies like a football\"","url":"https://time.com/5104056/video-firefighter-catch-child-georgia/","keywords":["georgia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91fa5ae7656551c0/69885c74f887dc1ab8e9188b/firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91fa5ae7656551c0/69885c74f887dc1ab8e9188b/firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"fireman","caption":"fireman","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/georgia/","name":"georgia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5104056/video-firefighter-catch-child-georgia/","name":"Video Shows Firefighter Catching Child Tossed From Burning Building"}}]}] ```