An Albuquerque construction worker is being hailed a hero after catching a toddler and baby girl dropped from an apartment window during a devastating fire.
Mason Fierro told CNN that he was putting on a roof with coworkers when he saw flames break out and heard a blood-curdling scream.
“We heard the father scream — like a scream we have never heard before. When we heard that, we ran over as soon as possible,” said Fierro.
As he ran toward the smoking building, he spotted a man dangling a 2-month-old baby out of a second-story window.
While the rest of his crew ran to get ladders, Fierro knew he had to act quickly to save the child from fast encroaching flames. He told the father to drop the baby into his arms.
Though the man was understandably hesitant to release his baby girl from treacherous heights, Fierro says his instinct helped him “trust in us to help him and help his children.”
“He dropped her. I caught her,” recalled Fierro, adding, “There was no doubt in mind that I would catch her.”
With one child safely out of harm’s way, the frantic father held his 3-year-old son out the window. Fierro also caught the little boy with the help of his brother Jermaine Gallien, another worker on the construction site that day.
And Fierro’s heroic efforts didn’t end there. After saving the two children, he and his coworkers walked around the whole apartment complex, knocking on doors to urge people out.
Lt. Tom Ruiz of the Albuquerque Fire Rescue praised Fierro and his life-saving efforts.
Earlier today AFR responded to a 2nd Alarm apartment fire in NE Albuquerque. A total of 30 fire apparatus were on scene…
Posted by Albuquerque Fire Rescue on Friday, July 12, 2019
“Those people were in dire need of rescue (and) weren’t able to wait on us,” said Ruiz, who arrived on the scene five minutes after the children were caught from the second-story window.
Fierro was quick to divert attention away from himself, hailing his colleagues as the true heroes for assisting him. He gave credit to “everybody who jumped into action with us.”
“Not a word was spoken between any of us,” said Fierro. “We just knew what we had to do and we did it.”
However, Ruiz doesn’t recommend just anyone to rescue children from fiery buildings.
“That’s something we’d like for them to leave to us,” he said. “Those construction workers already had equipment… They made the decision to act and that can be more commended than anything else.”
The apartment fire ended up sending three people to the hospital, including the two kids and one person debilitated by smoke inhalation. They are all now in stable condition.
While everyone thankfully escaped unscathed, the building was not so lucky. The apartment complex was “a total loss,” said Ruiz.
The cause of the Albequerque apartment fire is still under investigation.
