California firefighter finds abandoned newborn outside fire station

ROCKLIN, Calif. (KFSN) -- A firefighter in Northern California is being credited with saving the life of a newborn that was abandoned outside his fire station.

Battalion Chief Shawn Watkins with the Rocklin Fire Department woke up in the middle of the night and went to grab a bowl of cereal. When he walked by the back doors he thought he heard cats fighting outside. But when he walked by again he realized it was a baby crying and then saw the infant's arm sticking out of a box.

"He went and woke up the captain, so he had someone else with him, and they went out and they got the baby. The baby was very healthy," Rocklin Fire Battalion Chief Kurt Snyder said.

California's Safely Surrendered Baby Law states "...anyone with lawful custody can safely surrender a baby confidentially and without fear of prosecution..." but the child must be left with a person. In this case, the infant was just abandoned.