When Gilbert Valle saw a flames coming from a neighbor's house Wednesday afternoon, he sprinted down the street toward it.
When he saw a girl standing at a second floor window paralyzed in fear, he knew time was of the essence, he told CBS New York.
Valle stood below and called up to the child.
"I see the little girl sticking out the window. I said, you gotta jump, we can't wait for firemen, we gotta get her," Gilbert Valle said.
"I told her, 'Jump, I'm not gonna let you down.' She jumped to me. I brought her down," he said.
Next, it was time for her 16-year-old sister. He caught her too. But, he wasn't finished until that final catch -- the girls' mother.
"I went to them and I hugged them. 'Are you alright? Is there anybody else in the house?' They were happy, they gave me a hug. I said I love you, they said they love me. We don't know each other, but I love them," Valle said.
Firefighters extinguished the fire that damaged apartments on the first and second floors.
There is no word on how the firefighters were hurt or if they needed hospitalization.
The fire remains under investigation.
