NYPD rescue caught on camera as cops carry families out of burning Brooklyn building

Police body-worn cameras captured a dramatic rescue when a handful of officers ran into a burning Brooklyn building, helping a dozen people to safety, including a couple babies and a man on crutches.

Officers Mark Kalwa and Vincenzo Rallo ran into the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville last week after driving by the complex and spotting a fire on the fourth floor.

"We heard screaming for help, calls for help out the window," Kalwa explained.

"When you hear the screams, it's something in you. You can't just disregard that and wait for fire, so we went up," Rallo said.

Officers Kalwa and Rallo went in and ran into a wall of smoke.

"It's pretty thick -- hard to breathe, hard to see. I remember a few people coming towards me as I was telling them to come towards me," Kalwa said.

"He had a flashlight, so he went in first and directed people towards me. I was at the fourth floor stairwell door as they made their way to me, that's when we started escorting people down," Rallo explained.

Because of the fire, officers couldn't take the elevator. So instead, they used the stairs to make rescue after rescue.

"The first person who came was a mother with a child and she just looked like she was going to go down, so I grabbed the baby from her, helped her down the stairs and took the baby. And that was the first one we brought down," Rallo said.

"It was the most gratifying thing -- the kid being safe was just the coolest feeling," he added.

The video shows Officer Kalwa helping a man on crutches escape the fire. Another officer arrives carrying a teenager with a broken leg down the stairs.

"Officer Alam, he carried the kid down because, quicker he could make it out the better. he carried the kid down all three flights of stairs and out the back door to safety," Rallo said.

There were more children stuck on the fourth floor, so Officer Rallo and a firefighter helped a father in desperate need.

"That's when I saw the dad come down with the other two kids and he dropped down to the ground. That's when I took the other two kids down to the car," Rallo said.

The children were placed into an NYPD squad car. In all, 12 people were rescued.

"It's just humbling to be there at their time of need and provide that service," Kalwa said.