Two twin baby boys were thrown to safety from a burning building in the Bronx on Wednesday morning.
Father of the two 11-month children Everdean Codner told NBC 4 New York that he tossed the children out of his home on East 220th Street after yelling, "somebody help me catch this baby!"
Codner and his wife smelled smoke the moment they woke up, Wednesday. He heard a noise in the hallway, opened the window in his bedroom and witnessed "flames gushing out" below, he told NBC 4.
Codner tried to move his family down the fire escape, but couldn't transport the two children.
"I start screaming, 'Somebody help me catch this baby,' because I wasn't going to try to, like, risk it," he said.
New York City postman Jermaine Shirley, who lives on the third floor of the building, was reportedly on his way to work at around 7 a.m. when he smelled smoke at 870 E. 220th St. in Williamsbridge. After he ensured his wife and children got out, he went up to the roof of a shed attached to the building. There, he saw Codner on the fire escape holding his twins Israel and Ishmael.
"I was ready to catch," Shirley told the New York Post. "One of them, he kind of flipped a little because he was in a full onesie suit, but I catch him."
After successfully catching the first young boy, Shirley then motioned to Codner to throw down the second child, who the mail carrier caught, then eased onto the ground.
"They dropped the babies down and I catch them," he continued. "I just thank God that everyone is safe - my wife and kid-everyone is safe. I would want everyone to do the same for me."
Three people in the building sustained minor injuries, including two children. The twin infants were not injured, the Post reported.
Firefighters managed to contain the flames by about 7:50 a.m.
