Dad Throws Infant From Second-Floor Apartment, Then Jumps to Escape Fire

A New Jersey man was forced to throw his infant child out of a second-floor window to police and firefighters below after the apartment building they were in caught fire Monday morning.

The man, who jumped out soon after, and the child both suffered minor injuries, and the Red Cross estimates that about 50 people were displaced by the Monday morning fire that has since been put out, South Brunswick police said.

Police said just before 11 a.m. that the fire had been put out, four people suffered minor injuries and one person was hospitalized. They also said the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Video from one officer's body camera shows a group of officers gathering below the window and calling for the man to release the child down to them, and then catch the man who jumped out shortly after.

At least 15 families living in the apartment complex were affected by the fire, according to local news station WPIX-TV.

Several 911 calls were placed just after 8 a.m. Monday morning about a fire in the building that is part of the South Ridge apartment complex. Police said that firefighters discovered "heavy fire" coming from several second- and third-floor apartments.

"The amount of fire on the second floor balcony was extreme. I imagine that the sliding glass door to the balcony probably failed....If that door did fail and allowed smoke and heat inside, it most likely cut off their means of egress completely to the one exit that they had through the front door of their own apartment," South Brunswick Fire Chief Scott Smith said of the man and child, according to WLNY-TV.

"So if they didn't have that window right there, chances are pretty good that they might not have been able to make it out."

Update 3/7/22, 2:08 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.