NJ residents tie bedsheets, jump out of windows of burning condo

LAVALLETTE — A man was injured Thursday morning after jumping out of a window of a condo building that was on fire.

Authorities said the 45-year-old man leaped from a second-floor window of the building on Grand Central Avenue. His was the only reported injury in the 1:21 a.m. fire that consumed the two-story multi-unit building.

Another resident tied bedsheets into a rope in order to escape with his girlfriend from a second-floor window, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that the fire is believed to be accidental and that investigators have not ruled out improperly discarded smoking material as the cause.

The fire began outside the building on a balcony walkway on the second floor. The outdoor walkway had carpeting, which caught fire, investigators said.

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