A 21-month-old infant was dropped from a third-floor window of a west-end apartment and safely caught after the building caught fire early Wednesday.

The apartment in the area of 156th St. and 104 Ave. caught fire around 8:30 a.m. causing the entire building to be evacuated.

The child's mother, Vanessa Machiskinic grabbed her son Jet and went into the hallway as thick smoke began to fill up the building. The woman noticed that the smoke was too thick to pass through to get to the stairwell door.

"Looking at the hallway, the smoke lines in the hallway, it was down to within a foot off the ground so the visibility would have been next to nothing," said Capt. Shayne Page with Edmonton Fire Rescue.

So with Jet in hand, and the child's father Adrian Key nearby, Machiskinic tried to make an escape through her apartment suite.

"You couldn't see or breathe. I thought we were going to die," said Machiskinic.

Machiskinic said she smashed her room window with a chair, and Key held the infant out over the balcony. Down below, another resident, Dan Marianchuk noticed the infant being held up and positioned himself underneath so he could make the catch.

Key then dropped the boy and Marianchuk safely caught Jet.

"I just knew it was going to be positive because for sure I'd break his fall," said Marianchuk. "I'm just glad I was there when he needed it."

Machiskinic and Key made their way out of the burning building using the hallway and were reunited with Jet on a provided ETS bus to keep warm.

"I just thought, we were all going to die so at least I just wanted him to be safe," said Key.

Close to 30 residents had to stay on the provided buses to stay out of the cold while fire crews continued to battle the blaze.

Fire officials said the blaze was brought under control within the hour. The fire originated in a second-storey suite and was sparked by a space heater. Officials still do not know if faulty wiring was involved, or if the heater was placed too close to some bedding.

Damage is estimated at about $500,000.

With files from CTV's Laura Tupper