Child caught after falling three stories

At 6:30 last night, Robert Lemire was chatting on his cell phone, talking about coaching his daughter's softball team this spring.
But when he looked across the street, Lemire quickly realized someone else's daughter was going to need his help first.
A child was dangling out of a third-story window at 700 Haverhill St., and Lemire, without thinking about his own safety, bolted across the busy street to help the toddler. Then, with help from Alex Day, another Good Samaritan, the two men caught 11/2-year-old Caliah Clark as she fell about 40 feet into their waiting arms.
"I've only seen something like that on TV," said Lemire, a Methuen father of two girls, ages 13 and 16.
Police last night credited the hustle of the two men with saving the girl as she hung from the apartment window.
"The quick response, the calls for help. These guys are heroes, no question about it," said police Chief John Romero.
The girl was taken to Lawrence General Hospital for evaluation, but police don't believe she suffered any serious injuries. As required by law, the Department of Social Services was immediately notified about the accident and is expected to investigate.
"She's lucky. Everybody is lucky," said Lemire, 45, a remodeling contractor.
Lemire said he had stopped on Haverhill Street and was going to order supper from a nearby pizza joint. As he was chatting outside on his cell phone, the first thing he noticed, as he looked across the street, were toys being thrown out of the apartment at 700 Haverhill St., a large Victorian-style home.
Then, he saw the third-floor window was wide open and a little girl was hanging outside. Two other kids were holding onto her by her arms as she dangled outside the window.
Lemire said he bolted across busy Haverhill Street, nearly getting hit by a car. He yelled for help.
Day, 23, who was attending a Bible study meeting inside 700 Haverhill St., heard someone yelling outside and fearing a fire had ignited, he jumped up to see what was going on.
He soon met Lemire, who pointed to the side of the house "where there was a child hanging out the window," Day told police.
Lemire "was just going frantic trying to get her," Day said last night.
Both men ran around the house and stood underneath Caliah, who suddenly fell into their arms. Day caught the top of her body, while Lemire grabbed the lower half.
"As soon as I told him what was happening, we both looked up and there she came," Lemire said.
When Lemire dialed 911 for help, he said his "fingers were numb."
Day then went upstairs and spoke to the child's father, Randall Clark, 27, and expressed "his disappointment as to what had just occurred," according to a police report. Clark told police he was caring for a newborn child in the apartment's bathroom when he heard a commotion outside. When he went to see what the kids were doing, he found his two oldest children near the "wide open window," the police report said.
"He then reported not seeing the 11/2 year old anywhere in the room and felt like something had gone wrong. He ran down to the second floor where he was met by Alex Day with his child in his hand," the report said.
The window is close to the floor and can be easily opened. There was no screen in the window, Patrolman Rhadames Gonzalez noted in his report.
The city's Inspectional Services division was also notified about the window. Lemire said he was just happy the evening had a happy ending.
"Thank God," he said.
Day agreed, describing the event as "absolutely incredible."
"She was so small, she would have really been hurt," he said. "It was pretty amazing when I look back on the whole thing."