CHICAGO (CBS) -- A father, running short on time, makes a courageous call to save his children from a burning building.

The tense moments were all caught on camera.

Kaleb Martin and his five and seven-year-old daughters were trapped on the top floor of their apartment building in West Peoria, surrounded by a raging fire.

Three stories below, rescuers stretched out a sheet ready to catch the children. Martin had to summon the courage to do the unthinkable.

"The guy that you see on the video said 'You trust me. You have my word.' I counted to three. I looked down at that thing. And I let her go," Martin said.

It was a perfect catch.

Martin and his fiancée got down via a rescue ladder injured but expected to be OK.