A father in Knoxville, Tennessee took a big leap of faith during an apartment fire over the weekend. A firefighter asked him to drop his baby boy from the third-floor window, promising to catch him.
Josiah is not even two months old yet, and on Sunday morning, a fire broke out in the building he and his family live in.
Firefighters say it started in the rear stairwell of the building, and the family had no safe way out.
"There he is, you know, with a baby hanging out. Asking us to save his baby. We didn't have ladders setup at the time but a lot of smoke was coming out and something had to be done," Senior Firefighter Eric "Bo" Merritt said.
Merritt said smoke inhalation was a major concern, and that he was worried about getting the baby out.
In the moment, he said he didn't think twice about catching the baby. He said the boy was uninjured in the fast-acting exchange, but after it was all over, Merritt said he realized how serious it could've been.
"I turned around and looked up at the window. He had the child in his hand. I noticed all the smoke that was coming out. I didn't want the baby taking in a lot of smoke. So for some reason, I said 'drop him, I'll catch him.' He trusted me for some reason to do that. By far the scariest thing I've ever done," Merritt said.
The boy's father dropped him from the open window, which was about 30 feet off the ground.
Merritt said he's no hero, adding, "Anybody in the department would've done the same thing."