Newborn Girl Dropped Off At LA Fire Station
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters got an unusual Christmas Eve package -- a baby.
A 27-year-old woman walked into a fire station near downtown's Exposition Park at 2:46 p.m. Friday with a small bundle in her arms, fire spokesman Erik Scott said in a statement Saturday.
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The woman told firefighters that it was her daughter, born six hours earlier, and she wanted to give the child up for adoption.
The firefighters took the girl and warmed her with a blanket. She appeared to be in good health, Scott said.
Firefighters nicknamed the baby girl Noel, in honor of Christmas. They gave identifying bracelets to both the mother and the infant, then took the infant to a hospital for a checkup.
"Our last report was that the infant was very healthy," Scott said.
The girl was placed with Los Angeles County child welfare officials and could be placed in a foster home or kept for adoption.
"Firefighters have seen some negative outcomes from instances where infants were abandoned. We're just very happy that this had a positive outcome," Scott said.
"It's not an everyday occurrence but the firefighters are trained how to deal with these circumstances," Scott said.
California passed a Safely Surrendered Baby Law in 2001 that allows parents to give up babies up to three days old at fire stations, hospitals and other locations without fear of prosecution if there are no signs of abuse.
Noel was the sixth child surrendered in the county in 2010 and the 82nd since the program began nine years ago, according to county statistics.
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