Video: Helmet cam captures Calif. fire rescue

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. — A helmet cam captured firefighters rescuing three children from a house fire Tuesday.

One child had to be dropped over a second-story railing into the arms of a waiting firefighter in Alameda County, Calif., according to KGO-TV.

The video shows a thick black plume of smoke. Fire Capt. Tom Pappas calls out to the children and pulls a boy to safety. Moments later, Firefighter Anthony McAdams pulls another child out. Then the mother lowers a third child to Firefighter McAdams from the second-floor window.

"She didn't know what to do so she basically handed her child down to me," Firefighter McAdams said.

"A lot of the family members weren't able to get out and we had neighbors and parents saying that there younger children were still trapped on the second floor," Capt. Pappas said.

"They were in the back bedroom, tucked into the closet under a blanket scared for their lives," Capt. Pappas, who wore the helmet cam, told CBS San Francisco.

Firefighters used thermal imagers to search the rooms, and a fourth child made it out by himself.