3 toddlers critical following rescue from Southwest Fresno apartment fire

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Three toddlers are in the hospital in critical condition after being rescued from a fire in Southwest Fresno. They were inside an apartment on Church near Fig just before noon Sunday, when firefighters saved them. The children are just 1, 2, and 3 years old.

Dozens of firefighters came to the rescue at a small fire at a Southwest Fresno apartment. Smoke is all they could see when they arrived to the Westgate Garden Apartments. But amid the charred furniture were three small children trapped inside.

"The first words stated to the captain on scene was there's still children inside, and so that captain took him and his crew and they went straight into rescue mode," said Pete Martinez with the Fresno Fire Department.

Two apartments were damaged by the flames that investigators believe started in the living room of one of the units. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but hours later, crime scene tape and investigators still surrounded the scene.

"A lot of the firefighters have small children, so it was a pretty significant call for us as far as having that many children involved," said Martinez.

The parents of the toddlers were inside the home at the time of the fire, but it's unclear if they were with the children. Fresno police have interviewed the mother and say the investigation is ongoing.