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Bodycam Captures a Heroic Rescue of an 8-Month-Old Saved From a House Fire

Firefighters in Twinsburg, Ohio, rescued an 8-month-old boy from a burning home on Sunday after a desperate call for help from his father.

The first 911 call came in just after noon. Breathless and panicked, the homeowner told dispatchers, “Hello, hello, we have a fire in the basement with a baby in the basement.” He had managed to get two other children out safely, but the smoke and heat kept him from reaching his infant son. “I can’t, I can’t get down there,” he said.

Twinsburg police officers were first on scene and tried to get into the house, but they were forced back by the heavy smoke. Fire crews arrived minutes later and immediately launched a search of the basement, which was filled with thick smoke and flames.

“I didn’t hear anything except there was a baby in the basement,” said firefighter Joshua Jarzab. Basement fires are especially dangerous, he explained, because there is only one way in and out. But he and his team had trained for exactly that scenario.

The crew used a firefighting tactic known as VEIS — Vent, Enter, Isolate and Search — with a thermal imager, tools for breaking through doors, and a portable water extinguisher. “We weren’t going to leave that basement until that baby was found,” Jarzab said. “We saw the fire, but that wasn’t our priority. Our priority was finding this baby.”

After pushing through the smoke, Jarzab spotted a door with a child’s safety lock. “Luckily by the grace of God we located the bedroom door,” he said. When he opened it, he saw the infant’s head rising above the crib.

Jarzab lowered the boy to the floor, where the air was clearer, then rushed him outside. “So I held him as close as I could to my jacket and I moved,” he said.

Paramedics were waiting and quickly assessed the child, who was reported to be in good condition and transported to Ahuja Medical Center.

Jarzab credited the parents’ quick thinking with helping save their son. The baby’s bedroom door had been closed during his nap, which kept smoke from filling the room. “In my opinion, it’s by the grace of God that I believe that door was closed,” he said. “If that door was open, smoke would have traveled into that bedroom and it would have, I think, turned out the opposite of this.”

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