A heart-stopping video has been released by the Fresno Fire Department which shows firefighters desperately trying to find three unconscious children in a burning apartment.

The Fresno Fire Department released the dramatic helmet-cam video from inside the southwest Fresno, California apartment on Sunday.

They were called to the apartment following reports of smoke, but were then told on arrival that there were three children stuck inside.

The video, which contains footage from two different firefighters, shows them battling to locate a one-year-old boy and two girls aged three and four.

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A heart-stopping video has been released by the Fresno Fire Department which shows them desperately trying to find three unconscious children in a burning apartment. Pictured: An unconscious girl is pulled from the home

Glass can be heard smashing as the firefighters call out to each other in the smoke in a desperate race against time.

They manage to find one child and then find the second and eventually the third.

Although the video is agonizing to watch, the fire department say the children were all located within four minutes of their arrival at the burning apartment.

The Fresno Fire Department released the dramatic helmet-cam video from inside the southwest Fresno, California apartment on Sunday

They were called to the apartment following reports of smoke, but were then told on arrival that there were three children inside

The video, which contains footage from two different firefighters, shows them battling to locate the children, a boy and two girls ages one, three and four

They were taken to a nearby hospital with critical injuries due to smoke inhalation.

They were conscious on Monday afternoon - the three-year-old has a minor burn on her hand.

'The firefighters would say it's just their job. But to get a rescue of this magnitude is something we really don't come across every day,' Agapito Martinez, public information officer for the department told ABC News.

Glass can be heard smashing as the firefighters call out to each other in the smoke in a desperate race against time

They manage to find one child and then find the second and eventually the third

Although the video is agonizing to watch, the fire department say the children were all located within four minutes of their arrival at the burning apartment

The children were conscious on Monday afternoon - the three-year-old has a minor burn on her hand, and all three were treated for smoke inhalation

Neighbor Crystal Rodriguez told Fresnobee: 'We were standing here pretty much watching the apartment burn from the inside.'

'Nobody thought there would be three little babies inside.'

She said that another neighbor told her the children's mother was returning home from the store when she saw her apartment was on fire.

She said the mother broke a window to try and get the children out, but then the firefighters arrived.

Rodriguez said: 'I thought they were dead. They were just limp.'

The fire department is investigating the cause of the fire, but it is thought to have been caused by an electrical issue around the entertainment center.