ASBURY PARK -- Two police officers are being praised for rescuing an 8-year-old boy who was trapped inside a second-floor room during a house fire Monday morning.
NJ Police Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev said officers John Walsh and Dewitt Bacon arrived at the home on Prospect Avenue in Asbury Park as it was engulfed in flames around 8:45 a.m. The officers were in the right place at the right time to catch the boy as he jumped.
Fire Chief Kevin Keddy told the Asbury Park Press that Capt. Robert Fahnholz persuaded the boy to jump. He was taken to a hospital to be checked out, Keddy told the Press.
"It is the split-second actions by these two officers that saved this little boy. The house had flames shooting out when the officers arrived. These officers are heroes," Andreyev said. "Officers make a difference every day; there is no doubt about it today."
Red Cross New Jersey is assisting five people from four families with temporary shelter, food, clothing and other immediate needs.
A mother and her two children from a neighboring home were taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, according to TAP into Asbury Park.
It was the second child rescued from a burning house in Asbury Park in the past year, according to Asbury Park Professional Firefighters Local 384.