By Michelle Marchante
Source Miami Herald
A Florida deputy was caught on camera climbing balconies to rescue a 1-year-old girl trapped on the third floor of a burning building.
Bodycam footage by the Orange County Sheriff Office shows a mom and her baby trapped on the third-floor balcony of an apartment in Orlando on Saturday. The mom can be heard shouting for help as smoke from the fire fills the sky.
The sheriff’s office said flames were coming out of the apartment and “due to the imminent danger,” a deputy took matters into his own hands.
“Hold on, Hold on, Hold on, I’m coming,” Deputy William Puzynski shouts. Bodycam footage from Puzynski’s outer ballistic vest, which he took off and left on the ground as it continued recording, shows him climbing up to the second-floor balcony.
“Give me your baby! We’re coming, hand me your baby!” Puzynski shouts.
As the mom pleads for help, holding on to her crying baby, Puzynski realizes he needs to get closer and climbs onto the balcony’s railing. He’s now close enough for the mother to hand the girl to him. Puzynski then carefully gets back into the second-floor balcony and passes the diaper-wrapped baby to other deputies on the ground.
Fire crews then rescued the mother and grandmother from the apartment using a ladder, the sheriff’s office said. Other residents got out of the building safely. No one was injured.
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