Mother throws baby out second-floor window to escape fire on Long Island

BRENTWOOD, Long Island (WABC) -- A mother said she was forced to throw her baby out of a second floor window in order to escape a fire in their Long Island home.

The fire happened around 3:30 Wednesday morning on Peterson Street in Brentwood.

Yasme Hernandez, who spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News, said she opened up a door to get out of the bedroom but the smoke pushed her back.

"I opened the door and burned my hand," Hernandez said. "When I opened the door, the smoke pushed me back in. We were suffocating."

That's when she made the scary decision to throw the baby out of the window to a man below. It was her downstairs neighbor standing outside.

She threw her 9-month son down to him, saving his life. She then headed for the front door, encountering heavy flames and smoke on the way out.

The baby's father, Osvaldo Ventura, was also forced to jump out of a window.

"I couldn't pass through there so I had to go out of the window," Ventura said. "I grabbed a hose to try to put out the fire."

Three other children were in the home at the time, as well. They managed to get out safely.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Now, the family is trying to figure out what they're going to do because they can't live in the house.

"We're in a bad situation because we're going to have to stay in the streets, because we don't have anywhere to go," Hernandez said.