By Nicole Hensley
New York Daily News
EDGEWATER, N.J. — Terrified girls jumped from the balcony of their New Jersey dance studio during a mad dash to flee a raging fire in the building Monday evening, video shows.
The young dancers were seen dangling from the ledge and screaming as an army of good Samaritans below the burning Edgewater studio encouraged the girls to let go, according to footage of the daring escape.
And two of the girls did let go as debris came tumbling down around them just before 7 p.m.
A man could be seen in the tense video carrying a child down an extension ladder while another kid knocked the same ladder over during her attempt to slide down the building.
Flames were whipping out of the windows as Mayor Michael McPartland said he and a pal witnessed a police officer and businessman rescue the children from the second story.
“It was one of the bravest things I’ve seen,” McPartland told reporters. “It was kind of dramatic. They didn’t know what to do — the girls were trapped on the second floor. They escaped due to the bravery of these two guys.”
Five people caught in the blaze were rushed to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, according to Edgewater Fire Chief Steve Curry.
The fire is believed to have started on the first floor, where the Edgewater International Auto Body and a car wash are located, before spreading to the rest of the building.
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