Child Jumps From Burning Asbury Park Home, Is Safely Caught By Firefighters

ASBURY PARK, NJ — Firefighters had to coax a child to jump from the second floor of a burning home Monday morning in Asbury Park, and the child landed safely in firefighters' arms, according to a city spokesman.

The fire broke out at 8:44 a.m. Monday at a home on the 500 block of Prospect Avenue.

Upon arrival, officers observed heavy smoke and flames coming from the residence.

The first floor of the home was on fire, with flames coming out the windows, and witnesses told firefighters they could see a child in the second-floor window. Police were trying to persuade the boy to jump.

The boy did jump, and he was safely caught by Asbury Park Police officers Dewitt Bacon, John Walsh and area resident Joseph Dunbar, who worked together to safely bring the child to the ground.

The boy and his mother were taken to a nearby hospital; a neighboring family with children also had to be hospitalized for smoke inhalation. None of them were seriously injured.

The home on Prospect Avenue was destroyed by the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Monmouth County Fire Marshals.