<p><br /> Three "lovely" children have died and their mother is critically ill after a fire swept through their home.<br /> </p><p><br /> Residents of Clarence Avenue, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, described their desperate attempts to save three-year-old Maddie, AJ, five, and William, nine.<br /> </p><p><br /> Fire crews and police were called to the cul-de-sac at 11.58pm on Thursday. The children's mother, 27-year-old Samantha Hudson, was also taken from the house. She is in a critical condition in hospital in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.<br /> </p><p><br /> Nurse Lesley Salisbury, 59, said: "I saw flames coming from the bottom of the house and I ran out. To be honest I just can't remember getting from my house to there. But a firefighter brought out a little boy.<br /> </p><p><br /> "I told him I was a nurse and I started to work on him. I think I just went into nurse mode. I was doing chest compressions and the firefighters were doing the oxygen. After that it was just a blur, a dreadful blur.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Some of the neighbours said I worked on the other two as well but I don't really remember. I do remember the firefighters bringing them out; they were like little rag dolls."<br /> </p><p><br /> Mark Rhodes, of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, described the tragedy as "probably the most difficult, most challenging type of incident that we can ever be expected to deal with".<br /> </p><p><br /> He said: "I don't think anybody in their career ever expects to face the trauma of a fire involving children and the very difficult working conditions of last night.<br /> </p><p><br /> "The extent of the fire damage is considerable: the property was very heavily smoke-clogged when fire crews arrived. Breathing apparatus teams were inside the building inside five minutes."<br /> </p><p><br /> The cause of the blaze remains unknown.<br /> </p>
