A woman and three children were hospitalized in critical condition after a fire broke out in their home Tuesday night in Montclare on the Northwest Side.

About 9 p.m., firefighters responded to a blaze in 2500 block of North Rutherford Avenue, Chicago police said.

A 34-year-old woman, two girls 2 and 7, and a 7-year-old boy were pulled from the home, police said. They suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals in critical condition.

The victims were the wife and children of an active firefighter, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.