Video shared widely online shows New York City firefighters freeing a young child whose head had become stuck between the bars of an iron fence along a city sidewalk.

In the footage, firefighters from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) work for several minutes around the child, using a hydraulic spreading tool to carefully widen the gap between the bars while a firefighter kneels beside the child to keep the head steady and calm the youngster.
Other children, parents with strollers and onlookers watch from the sidewalk as crews work. The child is eventually freed and the crowd applauds; the person filming captioned the video "Thank you FDNY!!"

The exact date and location of the incident were not disclosed, and the FDNY has not issued a statement about it. Fire officials regularly warn parents that children can easily get their heads caught between fence railings and that they should not try to pull a trapped child free, but call 911 instead.