By Joe Torres
Updated 33 mins ago
LITTLE FERRY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A 5-year-old girl who was injured in a fire in New Jersey overnight has died, while her grandmother is still fighting for her life in the burn unit of an area hospital.
The flames broke out at a three-story home on Washington Avenue in Little Ferry late Tuesday, and several of the victims had to be lowered or jumped from windows to escape the burning structure.
The girl and her grandmother were trapped by the flames, and firefighters struggled through the smoke and fire to reach them.
"We couldn't get out through the front because of all the smoke, and nobody could breathe or see or anything," victim Dalia Lucero said. "So I went into my parents room, and from there, went to the bathroom and just jumped out the window."
Firefighters rushed to the top floor to save the trapped victims. The girl was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries. Her grandmother suffered burns on 90 percent of her body and was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, where she remains in critical condition.
The girl's mother, who jumped from a third-floor window, is also hospitalized.
"She said that she hurt herself in the back, and her face was completely full of blood," neighbor Ernest Matthews said. "I think when she jumped out the window, she landed on her face, because she was in real bad shape. So I dragged her out. I told her, 'listen, you need to get up from the floor, and we need to get you out.'"
A neighbor captured video of the fiery scene:
A police officer on patrol, identified as Lt. Chris Boel, heard a loud pop at the home and immediately called for fire and and first aid assistance. Moments later, he and other officers were helping with the rescue.
"One father was actually holding his children out the window and dropping them down," Little Ferry Police Chief Ralph Verdi said. "And the officers were trying to break the fall, and trying to catch them as best they could."
A family of five living on the second floor also escaped the fire, though the husband sustained injuries jumping out the window. He, his wife and their three daughters were taken to Holy Name Hospital.
An elderly woman living on the first floor was unharmed and has been relocated by the Red Cross.