Three children and their mother were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation following a fire at their home in north Co Dublin this morning.
The fire broke out at the house in Hilltown Close at Rivervalley in Swords at about 4.00am.
The woman reportedly used bedsheets to lower the three children, aged ten, four and one, from an upstairs window to her partner, who had arrived at the scene after she phoned him for help.
Gardaí arriving on the scene found the woman trapped in a first floor bedroom.
A Garda who tried to get into the house by the front door was beaten back by flames. Eventually, gardaí used a ladder from a neighbouring house to reach her.
The children and their mother, who is her late twenties, were taken to Temple Street Children’s Hospital where they are being treated for smoke inhalation.
A Garda spokesman said initial indications suggest the fire started accidentally. An investigation is underway to establish the exact cause of the blaze. The house was extensively damaged.
Peter Higgins, station officer at Swords Fire Station, said the mother discovered the fire in the sitting room and ran back up to the bedroom to her children, but left the sitting room door open and the fire took off.
"When we arrived everyone was out but the front windows had been blown out and the stairs were on fire," said Mr Higgins. "There was very little chance of someone going down them.
"She tied a couple of bed sheets together and she lowered the kids down through the back window. I think she dropped the baby down to her husband. She saved their lives by doing that."
Mr Higgins said neighbours had reported hearing the three children screaming inside.
"There was a lot of confusion," he continued. "We sent two crews in, one to tackle the fire and one through the flames to search upstairs for anyone else. At that stage we knew everyone was out.
"The woman was very overwhelmed and her husband very shocked. They were all very, very lucky. The fire was so evolved. Another minute and they would have been goners."
Additional reporting: PA