A photo of a Tennessee firefighter cradling a rescued little girl has him being hailed a hero.

Captain Chris Blazek of Chattanooga Engine 6 said he had just hopped in the shower following a fire when he was dispatched to a highway car crash.

Once there, he and his colleagues found a pregnant mother in distress as well as several children. 

While most of the kids seemed fine, the littlest girl couldn't stop screaming. 

"So I took her out of her car seat and did a quick physical exam to make sure she was okay. She immediately laid her head on my shoulder," Blazek wrote in a statement on Facebook.

After determining the other first responders had the scene under control, Blazek turned his attention to the little one.

"I decided to sit and take a break with my new friend," he said. She decided to take a break, too, and fell asleep almost immediately. Just in time for someone to snap a photo.

The older two children were taken to family members as the mother was taken to a hospital to be checked out. 

And the rest is viral history. The touching photo has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and even more widely by national news outlets.

For Blazek, the chance to comfort an ailing child is all part of what made him want to be a firefighter.

"It's moments like this, that I am reminded, this is why I do the job," he said.

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