A very calm TSA agent rushes away a smoking bag at Georgia airport

Surveillance video shows a bag smoking and catching fire at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. Photo / Still

A TSA agent is being hailed a hero for jumping into action to secure a smoking bag.

Surveillance video from a security checkpoint at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport shows a carry-on bag smoking while going through screening.

As passengers jump away at the smoke, Lead Officer Darrell Wade is seen going toward the bag, grabbing it and taking it out of harm's way, reports Daily Mail.

The incident occurred on July 20 but video has just been released which show Wade's heroic efforts.

After hearing a passenger yell, Wade, a retired military officer and dog handler with the Army for 21 years, calmly walked toward the bag.

He realizes it's actually on fire and anotherclip shows him running to bring the flaming luggage to a stairwell.

"I knew (the stairwell) was a solid, concrete structure, so I knew that no fire would spread," Wade said.

After law enforcement examined the bag, they determined the smoke was caused by a malfunctioning e-cigarette battery.

E-cigarettes and vaporizers have exploded or caught fire in the past and therefore are only allowed to be stored in carry-on luggage.

"I just really wanted everyone else to be safe," Wade said. "I can honestly say, at that point, I wasn't thinking of me getting injured or anything else. I just wanted everyone else at the checkpoint and all the other officers to be safe."

Once the bag was deemed safe, he finished his shift and went home to tell his wife about his day.

"I told my wife how the day went. She didn't believe me, of course," Wade said. "I just went home and treated it like another day."

Now he says his colleagues call him the "fire marshal".