Firefighter’s Amazing Catch Of Girl During Huge Fire: WATCH

DECATUR, GA — Amazing new video released over the weekend shows a firefighter in metro Atlanta catching a young girl after a desperate parent trying to escape a massive apartment fire dropped the child.

The catch, which was captured on helmet-cam video released over the weekend by the union for firefighters at DeKalb County Fire and Rescue in Decatur, Ga., was actually just one of several amazing saves made as they battled the Jan. 3 blaze at Avondale Forest Apartments.

NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of this story to see the video.

"We were catching babies like a football," DeKalb fire Capt. Eric Jackson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Literally."

As the video begins, burning embers can be seen raining down from the apartment building and the screams of its occupants — both adults and children — can be heard in the background. Then, a father can be seen struggling to get down a ladder as flames lapped in the background. He lets go of his young daughter, who plummets into the arms of Capt. Scott Stroup, a 20-year veteran of the fire department.

The video shows Stroup fall to his knees after making the perfect catch, then crawling on them as he carries the girl to safety. Fire officials say Stroup, who injured his leg battling the blaze, and the other firefighters on duty that day were heroes.

One of them was Capt. Jackie Peckrul, a mother herself of triplets. A 14-year veteran of the fire department, Peckrul was climbing a ladder when a parent unexpectedly dropped a newborn baby to her.

"I think they thought I was expecting it ...," Peckrul said to Fox 5 Atlanta. "That was the only thing running through my mind, 'Lord, let me catch this baby.' ... I never want to see a parent lose a child."

A person in a wheelchair was also among those who had to be rescued from the fire.

Amazingly, no one died in the blaze. Eight children and four adults were taken to hospitals with minor injuries in the blaze, which was reported at about 5 a.m. on Pine Tree Circle near Memorial Drive. Most of the injuries were due to smoke inhalation, according to DeKalb County Fire and Rescue.

It was brought under control at about 7:40 a.m., according to the fire department.

An estimated 50 people were displaced from the apartment building by the fire, according to officials. MARTA metro buses were called in to get residents out of the cold on a morning when temperatures were in the 20s.

Watch the video below:

Photo courtesy DeKalb County Firefighters Local 1492