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Firefighters ‘Were Catching Babies Like a Football' in Ga. Apartment Blaze

The dozen people injured in the fire ranged in age from one month to 36 years

A major fire at an apartment building in an Atlanta suburb had people dropping babies from a balcony into the arms of firefighters below, a fire official said early Wednesday as the blaze continued to smolder. 

A dozen people were injured, eight of them children, but the injuries were mostly minor and related to smoke inhalation, according to DeKalb County Fire Rescue Capt. Eric Jackson.

"We were catching babies like a football, literally," Jackson said at a news conference. "There were adults that were on the balcony that were dropping their babies right into our arms. We had several– a couple of firefighters catching babies, so it was really incredible."

Firefighters were rescuing adults from the blaze before they were even able to start spraying it with a hose, according to Jackson.

The people who were injured in the fire ranged in age from one month to 36 years, but they "should be fine," Jackson told NBC affliate WXIA

The cause of the fire, northeast of Atlanta near Decatur, wasn't immediately known.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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