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Dad saves baby by dropping it to neighbor

O'FALLON, Ill., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- An Illinois man saved his baby son from a fire early Friday by dropping him off a second-floor balcony into the arms of a neighbor standing below.

Larry Ishum then returned to his apartment in O'Fallon to look for his 6-year-old son, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The 1-year-old was covered with soot and suffering from smoke inhalation.

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"He was yelling for me to come take the baby," Kevin Kreidell told the newspaper. "I said, 'OK, I'll catch him, I promise. I'm not going to drop your baby.'"

The fire was reported just before 1 a.m. in the six-unit building. It did not spread beyond Ishum's apartment.

Kreidell said he gave the baby to his wife and went into the building, where he found the older boy in a stairwell and got him outside. He then yelled to Ishum that both children were safe and urged him to leave.

Ishum, who suffered severe burns, was able to drop from the balcony. He was being treated at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur.

Investigators said the fire's cause has not been determined but it is not considered suspicious. Ishum's wife was at work when the blaze began.

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